


Between Love and Hate

by MissRains



Series: Love and Hate [2]
Category: Dark Angel
Genre: Amnesia, F/M, Gen, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-20
Updated: 2014-04-20
Packaged: 2018-01-20 02:28:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 34,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1493335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissRains/pseuds/MissRains
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anything and Everything’s sequel. Will Alec finally remember who Max was to him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Between Love and Hate

**Chapter 1: The Life... His and Hers**

* * *

 

The night was coming to an end. The pale streaks of light crisscrossing over the tainted sky shimmered as if it was indeed a living being. The colourful rays that started from the foot of the heaven spread slowly; nature's daily welcome for a new day. In spite of the pale splashes of colour, dawn that day did not feel like any other day. The sun was hovering beneath a stubborn layer of clouds, defiantly denying its daily entry. The soft glow adorning the early sky was more forlorn than cheery. The day ahead was heavy with the promise of tears as the wind sang sadly around the dejected trees. This particular day was heavy with the promise of depressingly dismal hours ahead. Today looked to be teary, sad, forlorn... melancholic.

A still figure stood at the edge of a hill overlooking a forgotten battlefield. The eyes that were watching the scene turned hard as glass... and as brittle. Without a word, those blank hazel eyes swept over the scattered remains, seeing the burnt rubble and swirling ashes. A small part of him that was still untouched by the numbness cloaking his soul was speechless.

Manticore was gone. The only place he knew, a place that had offered some sort of sense had truly ceased to exist. In a bizarre sort of way, however much Manticore had tormented him, had tortured him to the brink of insanity, it had been home. In a way.

He could barely stop the short burst of insulting sneer. So this was what Manticore had come to. With all of its great power and force, this was what it had been reduced to. A pile of worthless ashes.

His expression smoothed to a slight frown as his train of thought shifted direction. If so, how in hell could he explain about that sudden flicker of emotion at the sight of the demolished base? The wind tugged at his dark locks as the current swirled around him but his stiff posture remained, his eyes were gazing unemotionally ahead. Deep within him, a foreign battle was raging ruthlessly, triggered by the sight before him. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to fill his burning lungs. His atypical response to this place confused him; he had no idea he was still capable of any emotion after the good people at Psy-Ops were done with him.

Again, he took another measured breath before opening his eyes. He stood there for a few more minutes, as still as the stout trees behind him. He pushed the scenario in front of him away and tried to analyze what had happened to him in the last few days. Recalling what had taken place after he regained consciousness, the smooth brow marred into a light frown. His restless hands clasped themselves loosely over his chest while his stance shifted a bit.

That girl was a mystery... and a damn nuisance considering how she managed to hover at the edge of his consciousness, pouncing on him every time he had his defenses down. Much like now.

He sighed, a deep infuriated burst of air. That night at the tower, when he was turning around to leave, something tugged mercilessly at his soiled core and he almost give in without knowing what he was surrendering to. Sweat broke out, staining the black sweater on his back and he almost faltered. He had no idea why it was so hard to break free from this invisible shackle chaining him to this place. But he did it, somehow. After one last glance at the broken girl slumped at the edge of the tower, he took that arduous first step and was gone.

He remembered his unpredictably heavy heart as he descended the stairs but at that time, he put it aside as the future fixation of facing the people of Manticore. But now... he was as confused as he was back then. Maybe even more so.

The soft rays of light felt heavenly on his chilled skin while he filled his chest with the clean air and his thoughts wandered on. He recalled on how he had looked around the foot of the tower, contemplating on his next move. To get himself back to base as quickly as possible he would need a vehicle. He shrugged. No big deal then, he'd just take one and use it to get himself there.

His eyes scanned the dim area, looking around for prospective target. Not much of a choice here, he whispered to himself, eyeing the almost deserted area. Sliding his hands into the pocket of his jacket to keep them warm, he started to walk.

And now here he was. Back to the root of his beginning.

He wished he knew what he needed to do next.

* * *

_A few months later_

'Bip bip bip! Do I have to repeat the same thing everyday?' A red-faced man stood in the middle of a bustling room and in his hand were a couple of packages. He waved them around for emphasis as he hollered, 'Grab a few of these and go! Bip bip!'

The area erupted into the usual groans and half-hearted objections but most of the Jam Pony employees heeded Normal's call and trudged outside with their packages.

At the end of the room, half hidden from view by the open locker, a brunette was seen rummaging through the content of the small compartment. As if seeing her for the first time, Normal burst into a jubilant greeting, walking towards her with a huge grin. 'Here's our Employee of the Month! Talk about turning over a new leaf, eh Missy Miss?'

Max didn't even bother to turn. 'Yeah, whatever. Gotta go deliver these, so if you'll excuse me.' Without another word, she closed her locker and brushed past him; her face was set in its daily unreadable look.

'That's the spirit, girl.' Normal nodded in agreement before turning to face his still lingering workers. 'What are you all waiting for? Bip!'

She marched quickly, trying hard not to notice the sympathy swimming in most of her co-worker's eyes. Hard as it was, she had a lot of practice by now. Max knew, or thought she knew, what everyone was thinking. They knew Alec's absence had made a huge impact on her life, but what they didn't know was just how huge it was. Or how painfully she had picked up the shattered pieces of her life and continued living after he left. Or how much effort it took just to close her eyes every night, in fear of reliving the heart-wrenching scenes again.

None of them had any idea.

She unlocked her bike swiftly, eager to escape, but someone grabbed her by the hand and pulled her aside.

'What's up?' she asked impassively.

'The day you become the 'Employee of the Month' is the day I know for sure you've gotten that ticket to hell. Girl, what do you think you're doing?' OC asked slowly, her eyes shining with worry.

'What? I'm just busy. I have a life, I have great friends, I have a job, a roof over my head and enough food. What else does a girl want?'

'What about love? What about Alec?'

Max clenched her jaw, 'If I let myself think about him, I... I can't do that. Not right now.'

'So you're gonna do an Alec and forget everything? Deny the fact that he _meant_ something to you? That he _still_ means something to you?'

'Dammit Cindy!' She slammed a fist into the nearby wall. 'I'm handling this the only way I know. I open up my heart to him only to have it stomped on and thrown back to my face. I can _not_ go through that again. I...'

'He didn't remember that he loves you,' her friend said softly.

'So that makes it all right, is that it?' she asked defiantly.

'I did _not_ say that,' OC shook her head hard. 'If he can't recall anything about your past, then it's up to you to remind him of everything, girl. Go find him and tell that to his face. Stop living in denial. The last couple of months of agony are enough to last both of us a lifetime.'

'How can I? How can I remind him if I don't even know where he is right now? He could be anywhere Cindy. I can't help him if he's not around.'

'People used to say this is one small world we're living in. You'll find him,' OC smiled assuredly.

'Then you're more optimistic than I am.' A second later she hopped onto her waiting bike and left.

Original Cindy just looked on sadly.

* * *

Max braked suddenly and her bike lurched to a sharp stop. She jumped to the ground before pushing the bike away as OC's words rang loudly in her mind.

 _So you're gonna forget everything? Deny the fact that he meant something to you? That he_ still _means something to you?_

The bike clattered noisily to the ground and she moaned, collapsed in a depressed bundle of misery. 'Damn you,' she whispered, tears sliding down her pale cheeks, 'damn you to hell wherever you are.'

Her brave front shattered, the armor she had put up for the world cracking into a hundred pieces as thousands of images of him rushed through her mind. Her small frame shook from the torrent of emotions that surged through her, feelings that she had denied herself to feel from the moment he was taken from her. Suddenly she saw him in her mind; the way his cold clipped tone had slashed her bleeding heart to tatters and she froze. She remembered how cold his green eyes had been, the warmth that had always been there replaced by icy dismissal and pure undiluted hatred.

Her dark eyes glazed before they sharpened into focus. No, she would not allow him to hurt her again. Even though memories were all she had left of him, she had to let them go if the pain they brought along was too much to bear. Original Cindy was wrong. She knew what she was doing. Forgetting him was the right thing to do.

By the time she arrived at the first house with her deliveries, the cool mask was already on and she went through her routine automatically. She gave the recipient their package, waited for the customary signature, and left for the next package. No stray thoughts were permitted to flash through her mind; work was all she had in her brain and that was how she wanted to keep it. As she stood by her bike, she took out her last package for the day and studied its address. Ten minutes later, she stood in front of the apartment waiting for someone to claim the box in her hand. After the door creaked open, she forced a stiff smile and pushed the package forward. 'Jam Pony Messenger. I have a package for you, ma'am. Can you please sign over here?'

The moment she was relieved of her parcel and the door closed, the smile disappeared. Max shoved the papers into her bag and trudged towards the stairway. As she was about to descend, her eyes turned towards the small window beside her and gave the view a quick glance but a split second later her eyes widened in shock. Her breath came up in a rapid burst of air as her eyes were trained on one thing in particular. A few moments later she had no idea how she managed to take herself from that building to this one, she wondered a little hysterically, as she stood on shaking legs in front of a rundown building.

Alec's former residence.

Max debated furiously with herself over the merits of doing this to herself but her own body refused what her panic-stricken mind was telling her to do. Step by step, her trembling legs took her to one place she did not want to be at more than anything right then. She gulped a desperate breath; her glassy eyes stared at the closed door with something akin to terror. Max stood rooted to the spot, unable to do anything else but stare at the peeling paint of Alec's door.

She knew for a fact that the apartment would be empty but she couldn't help the way her body reacted. The muscles in her jaw worked furiously, clenching and unclenching while her mind tortured her with visions of him. Images of a smiling Alec as he waited for her across the room, his hand lifted towards her... waiting for her to slide hers in. A second later it was the picture of his freezing eyes that greeted her in his hospital room.

She trembled, the weight of his hooded gaze pulling her down. Even though it was only a piece of her memory, her knees still quaked as a sliver of his revulsion slashed through. The door shimmered as her eyes clouded over and she almost turned around and ran. But something kept her rooted there. Something unfamiliar held her fettered to this last existing proof of his existence.

Unconsciously, her hand lifted towards the door, her shaking fingers stretched out towards the hard wood; aching for the feel of him. A loud gasp broke the trance and she took a step back, her wide eyes shining with horror at what had almost taken place. She shook her head hard, all the while muttering under her breath, 'No no no.'

Her hand flew to her mouth and she pressed it hard against her trembling lips, suffocating the sob that almost broke free from her constricted throat. One lone tear leaked from her red brimmed eyes, sliding down her face and then she was off. Max tore herself from the unseen chain of her mate and rushed from the building. With the tears blinding her, she had no idea where she was going. The only thing she knew was that she had to get out of there. Fast.

She ran the back of her hand over her watery eyes as her legs carried her. Max turned the corner and was about to push the door before it was opened from the other side. She froze, taken aback by the unforeseen maneuver. But before she could blurred off to safety, a voice called out.

'Max?'

That kinda nailed her feet to the ground. She lifted her eyes and felt her breath coming out in a startled flow.

'What are you doing here, young lady?'

She could sense how his speculation grew at her sodden face.

'What happen to you? Are you all right?'

'I'm fine,' she managed to wave it aside.

_I'm_ _always all right._

Alec had been right to use it as his mantra.

'I... I have to go,' she muttered half heartedly as she tried to slip past him.

He put a detaining hand on her arm. ''Wait a minute.' He saw her flinch at his gesture and he frowned.

'I really have to go,' she said, her tone teetering on desperation as her wild eyes devoured the scene behind him.

Dr Fowler's frown grew a little deeper. 'I need your help, Max. You should know where he lives, am I right? Since he's not around at the moment, I thought I'll just drop it off at his apartment.'

Cold tendrils of fear crawled up and down her spine. 'Whose apartment?'

'Why... Alec's of course. He gave me more than we had agreed on,' the old scientist sighed, 'and as much as I love to accept the extra money, I can't. It would be unethical to do so.'

'What are you talking about? Agreement? And... what money? Money for what?'

'For the cure of course.'

Her head was whirling with what he had told her and she shuddered for the ones to come. 'How... how much did it cost him for my... for the cure?'

Fowler shrugged. 'A million.'

Max gasped. 'Where did he get that kind of money?'

Again the old doctor moved his shoulder uninterestedly, 'I didn't ask and he didn't tell me. He gave me my money and I gave him the cure. And right now there's over two hundred thousand reasons why I can't accept more than what he and I had agreed upon. So please, can you direct me to his place?'

'I... No, I can't,' she shook her head frantically, inching towards the door.

But the old doctor just fixed her with his persistent stare and that was it.

* * *

It was dark. Too dark, even though the sun set hours ago. The night sky was heavily blanketed under layers of clouds, concealing the faraway source of light from view. Both the night's routine duelists for dominance over the sprawling heaven, the stars and the moon, were pushed aside when the leaden clouds decided to join in the game. Then suddenly a streak of fire burst over the black inky sky, showering the inky sky with its brilliance for a few precious seconds

The lone figure atop the high tower did not even flicker an eyelash at nature's sudden wonder. The stiff form of the unmoving girl kept her vigil, staring at the bustling city under her feet detachedly. The vacant eyes didn't even waver although the impromptu display continued for a few more minutes.

_Love sucks._

That phrase kept on repeating itself over and over again until her head felt like it was milliseconds away from the bursting point.

No, she shook her leaden-like head somewhat feebly, it did not. Alec had taught her that. With him, love was anything but that. For once, it did not matter that she had to face the repercussions of her actions in letting her so-called brothers and sisters out into this unforgiving world.

 _A thousand lies have made me colder_  
And I don't think I can look at this the same  
But all these miles that separate  
Disappear now when I'm dreaming of your face

It didn't matter that she had no knowledge of her immediate family; their whereabouts, what they were doing, or even the simple fact of whether they were still alive. With him beside her, having him in her arms, hearing the satisfying sound of his heartbeat, drowning herself in the scent of him and most importantly, the _knowledge_ that his heart belonged to her. That was what mattered to her.

Alec was hers as she belonged to him. That alone had make her life complete. But now…

 _I'm_ _here without you baby_  
But you're still on my lonely mind  
I think about you baby  
And I dream about you all the time

Max's lips trembled slightly and tears started prickling at the dark glassy eyes. Instinctively her hand tightened its hold around her raised knees. He had gone through so much for her, Max thought tenderly as Fowler's version wafted over her mind.

The soft winds whispered around her, caressing her pale pallid face, dancing futilely through her limp raven locks but she was in too deep in her own thoughts to give it any notice.

_Which part? The part where I said I'll never let myself do a weak thing like fall in love, or the part when I said I don't want to lay my eyes on you again? On the contrary, I meant every word._

Quickly, she bit on the shaking lip hard, an automatic response to steer her attention away from the injury his words had brought forth. A sob fought hard to surface and her constricted throat finally relented.

_No! He didn't mean that._

That tiny crack in the illusion of composure was enough to break the dam of her emotions, and then finally everything started rushing forward. Within seconds, she drowned.

Drowned in her own treacherous memories.

Max gasped, her throat practically on fire as it begged for air, tears were spilling down her face. Her chest heaved as she curled herself tightly in a small ball. She didn't care that her cheek was pressed against the bitingly cold surface of the tower; the chilling wind was enough to render anyone senseless and yet she didn't move… couldn't move, while her bottled up feelings broke free from its confinement.

And the wind continued with its furious storm.

 _I'm here without you baby_  
But you're still with me in my dreams  
And tonight it's only you and me..

* * *

The morning sun rose slowly, and tendrils of heat started spreading. A subtle hint for a new day. Among the jungle of concrete buildings, a lone tree stood proudly, untouched by the chaos around it. Hidden amid its tangle of branches, a twisted mass of small twigs and dried leaves made up a small nest.

The closely woven ensemble trembled slightly before a feathered head appeared; its beady eyes were looking around with interest. Satisfied, the small bird hopped free from its nest, resting on the nearest branch as it looked down upon the soft bundle of feathers inside it. The baby birds stirred, feeling the loss of their mother but she just cocked her head to one side as if contemplating on her next move. A second later, with a rustle of feathers, she was off, spreading her wings wide to catch the soft morning wind. It was time for breakfast for the little ones.

She flew higher and higher, the bright eyes sharp as they scourged the visible land for an edible source of food. She headed towards a tall tower, intent on heading to the other side of the town. Maybe her luck was there today. The small bird saw a crumpled figure of a human sprayed atop the tower but she kept on gliding through the air, with only one thought in her mind. Feed her young ones.

* * *

On top of the Space Needle, Max stirred and her eyes were slowly opened. She didn't move a muscle, still stretched out on the cold tower even though the icy wind had started whispering its morning greeting. The small girl shivered as her genetically engineered body lost its battle with the force of nature. At the moment, Mother Nature was in a brutally scornful mood and her chilly breath covered the earth.

Max closed her eyes, before raising her knees to her chin, making a small protective shell with her battered body. Inside her head images from a half forgotten dream whirled erratically, bouncing and jousting each other. The quick flashes were too swift for her to grab onto and ponder. But she tried anyway.

And slowly, the hazy dream started to become clearer. She almost gasped when the misty visions merged into a crystal clear sequence.

_As if right now, the wind was vicious, tearing mercilessly into everything in its path. And yet, she still kept on walking. Something told her that what she was looking for was within grasp. What was it exactly, she had no idea. All she knew was that if she kept on walking, she will find it... or find him._

_The terrain was harsh. Hot cracked ground ran endlessly, as far as the eye can see. Dead trees littered the land; their skinny lifeless branches were reaching hopelessly towards the sky, as if praying for something. She shivered, looking around with her wide fearful eyes while the shadows of the ghostly looking trees danced eerily around. Her fingers trembled, but she pushed them hard into her jacket, and then she kept on plodding ahead._

_I am lost._

_She shook her head hard, pushing the thought out of sight. He's here somewhere. I know he is. He has to be. He just has to._

_With renewed desire, she pulled the jacket tighter and marched purposely ahead. The walk seemed infinite, and again, she almost lost her newly found hope... but then she caught sight of something._

_Silhouette against the angry red sky was a severe looking cage and it was sitting on a crumbly piece of land, the same piece of ground that was jutting out from a fragile cliff. She felt her breath almost stop as she stared with terror at the scene in front of her._

_One of her hands whipped out, an unconscious reaction as she started running towards the crudely intertwined metal. As she got closer to the cliff, she gasped, horror clearly written in her huge eyes when the cage trembled and the brittle soil started to crack._

_The fracture began to grow, slowly at first but then she saw that someone was_ in _that cage and then her fear escalated. But that feeling could not be compared to what she felt when she realized that_ he _was the one being locked in, helpless to what fate had in store for him._

_One idle second passed before she ran, faster than she had ever run in her life, not caring just how many times she stumbled over loose stones or just how bad the gashes were on her gravely scraped hand and knees. And then she was a mere step away from him. That was what it took to close the gap between them. One measly step. She took that one stride hurriedly, her hand already in front of her, eagerly reaching out towards him._

_His warm eyes urged her on and she almost laughed out loud in the joy of finding him. However, the metal enclosure around him trembled, and with a lightning speed she did not know they possessed, the rusty shafts began to close rank. In front of her horrified gaze, they started binding themselves tightly together and she can do nothing except cry out as he disappeared from view._

_The rupture widened and with a loud crack, the end of the cliff gave way and slowly the intertwined cage slid off. The last thing she heard as it hurtled downward was a faint echo of his familiar voice._

_'Max... help me.'_

Max gasped, her lungs on fire while she dragged in huge amount of air to compensate for the last few minutes when she was too engrossed to even breathe. She ground her teeth hard, still panting from what she had gone through. Drops of sweat ran slowly down her pale skin and she pushed her wet hair off her face. Even though her head was still spinning, she managed to somehow scramble to her feet and there she stood, tall and straight. No one would know just by looking that most of her limbs were still wobbly and she was seconds away from passing out.

The inner fire within her was rekindled, and that flame was enough to fuel her lost hope once again. Alec was out there and he needed her. Contrary to what he had said, he still needed her. She knew that for a fact.

And now it would be up to her to remind him of that. Even if it killed her.

The small bird circled the tower; a number of small insects were firmly clutched in her beak, the testament of a successful hunt. She flapped her wings once and glided gracefully, riding the morning breeze without much effort. Her beady eyes turned towards the human standing at the edge of the tower who remain motionless and was staring at nothing in particular.

However, the iron straight spine and the tilt of the head suggested that this human had made some serious decisions and nothing could sway this person from acting on it. And in her experience, much like a hunter who had decided on a prey.

The thought of a hunter quickly pushed forward the image of her helpless chicks and hastily, she flapped her wings harder. Within minutes, the small bird was swallowed by the lightening horizon.

* * *

In a faraway land where the grass still sparkled with early morning dew, a figure was seen leaning against a tall robust tree, his arms clasped over his chest as he watched the sun shrugging itself out of the night's embrace. The eyes that were studying the scene never lost its sharp edge, even while witnessing a scene as moving as a sunrise.

Behind his detached mask, his mind was busy inspecting the road he had taken with his life. After his last visit to Manticore, he had drifted from one place to another with no clear purpose as to how he wanted to steer his life. And after a few months, he was tired of it all. He wanted some sort of anchor, an aim in life; something he knew he had before.

Some part of his life just did not make any sense. He had flashes of dreams... or memories of an unfamiliar life. Not surprising – that came along with being a covert operative – but a few had even been about the dark haired girl. Those restless voices in his mind had to be stopped or eventually he would be driven to madness with their insistent chatter.

He had been toying with the idea for a while now, weighing the pros and cons in his mind. But this decision he was about to make had nothing to do with that girl... the girl with her wide gleaming brown eyes. For a hardened ex-convict, she had looked almost fragile. But that must've been a trick of his abused mind. No, this had nothing to do with her. The reason for this was because he wanted to know more about his blurry past. That was the main purpose of doing this.

He was going back to Seattle.

 

**Chapter 2: The Unseen Path**

* * *

 

A small, lone figure sat by a window, unaware of how the room dwarfed its occupant. The long fingers, decidedly feminine, played with the edge of the heavy drape almost unconsciously as the emerald eyes stared unblinkingly out the window.

But those eyes, once startlingly too big and too bright for the small face, were presently dulled into jagged green stones set in a pale, withdrawn face. The head lowered and with a whisper, thick black hair cascaded down to shield those reserved features.

He walked in, the thick Persian rug muted the sound of his footsteps but the bent head lifted almost immediately. Andrew Saddleworth's set face cracked around the edges to produce a small smile. Only for this girl did he lower his guard. After all, he practically raised her.

Deep dimples flashed as a hint of a smile hovered over her lips at his appearance and she stood silently, waiting for him to come to her.

'Sandy, is he here? You said he'd be here today.' However, the smile disappeared with the question.

She had been raised that way. Never show your emotions to others. You're too vulnerable that way. She had learned it the hard way.

His footsteps faltered before resuming their crisp pace. 'I'm sorry Miss Charlene. He called earlier to say that he will not make it to dinner tonight. He's too...'

The butler's next words died in his throat as the girl's face lost its dimple. Without another word, she resumed her seat by the window and continued her vacant stare.

With a preoccupied glance her way, the stately butler delivered the rest of his news, 'The master reminds you to pack a suitcase and I already instructed Nancy to see to it.'

'A suitcase, huh?' She asked without a hint of emotion, 'You can tell him I'm not going anywhere.'

'I'm sorry Miss Charlene. It is your father's wish that you stay there for a while.'

'His order you mean?'

He sighed, 'No Charlie.' Not even her old nickname amused her this time. 'You know your father wants what is best for you.'

'Right.' One dark brow rose as she challenged him. 'That's why he's packing me off to… where is it this time?'

'He only wants you to be safe.'

The green eyes under the dark brows gleamed furiously, and he knew her only too well to know that she was livid. Beyond that even. 'He wants a lot of things but he's not getting any. I'm staying.'

'Please Charlie, be reasonable. You know it's not safe for you to be here now.'

'If he's so damn preoccupied with my safety, why didn't he tell me all of this himself?'

A beat of silence passed before he sighed again. 'You know why. It's not that he didn't want to, at this moment he just...'

'Can't.' She finished his sentence dully. 'Won't. It's the same thing. You know what, Sandy? Tell that damn bastard that I'll go _but_ he'll never see me again. Ever. If he comes within a mile, I'll give myself to the enemy. Make him understand that I mean every word.'

'Charlene, no!' The elderly man gasped in shock, 'Don't say that, he's still your father.'

'A father who is never around? Who wouldn't even remember my birthday if you didn't remind him every year? Who I last spoke to a year ago?' She turned and the green eyes hardened, her shoulders straight and stiff. 'He's nothing to me now. Nothing. And make sure he knows that too.'

* * *

The night's daily veil had not been lifted yet but not everyone was snuggled in their own cozy, warm bed. Silhouetted by the dancing candle flame, one figure moved constantly around the small, confining space. Without a word, he paced the bare floor unhurriedly, knowing that he had time to spare before breakfast.

Last night's storm was probably the reason why the need for candles this morning. He'll have to check if the generator was fine. They're going to need it until electricity kicked in again. He made a mental note to check the gasoline as well, but he knew they'd be fine even if the blackout went on till next week.

Moving about the small space, he tidied up the bed, tugging the taut sheet for the perfect fold. He stopped and frowned as he became conscious of his action. A second later, he shrugged and went on with his task. He looked at the sparse room, devoid of any personal keepsakes, but this was not something that bothered him anymore.

After the accident, the empty room freaked him out a little bit but over a period of time, he realized that maybe it was his nature after all. Given the chance, he would opt in being at the back of a crowd instead of having the limelight on him. No, he would rather blend in than stand out. He was a very private person after all and they lived in this isolated farm in the middle of nowhere, so it all made sense... a little.

Walking towards the door, he picked up his jacket and stood by the doorway as he shrugged into it. The dusky dawn bought a small smile to his face as he drank in his surroundings. In the dim light he barely saw the big house, but he knew Mary and Buddy were already up and running.

Without feeling, he saw the dark, empty rooms beside his. For some reason, the thought of being alone in roomful of empty worker's quarters made him sleep sounder during the night. No unexpected visitors in the middle of the night… no sudden footsteps in the hallway.

He had embraced the silence with the enthusiasm of a newly found religion.

Stretching his eager muscles, he took in deep lungful of crisp morning air and turned towards the stables. He needed to check on the horses before heading towards the big house for his breakfast.

A typical day for Adam Thompson has started.

* * *

The sound of a door crashing open at the crack of dawn drew muttered groans from the other apartments. But none of that mattered to her as she streaked past the couch to her bedroom where she started tossing her belongings around.

'Damn, where _is_ that bag?' A few frantic minutes later, she triumphantly drew an overnight bag from under her bed and then she started to pitch in whatever was within hands reach. She drew upright and stiffened before she ran and threw her closet open before starting to hurl her belongings onto her bed, obviously looking for something in particular.

After minutes ticked past and a small mountain of tops and jeans grew by her feet, she unearthed a bag and slowly took it to her bed, the bag Dr Fowler had thrust into her hands months ago. She fingered the rough fabric for a while before she unzipped the bag decisively. Green notes stared serenely back at her and quickly she grabbed some of the notes and crammed them into her bag.

She's going to need the money now and if he dared to bitch at her about using his money to look for him... Max blinked back the quick tears. She'd do anything, damn it anything, to have him nag again.

Max stood and hurriedly looked around her room again. 'Toothbrush!' she yelled and ran to the tiny cubicle they had to use for a bathroom and rammed her knee against the side of the bed. 'Goddammit! Ugh, I'll just buy one then.'

She massaged the tender area unconsciously, her mind already on less trivial details and she gasped, 'OC!' She ran towards the next bedroom and suddenly stopped. She couldn't just barge in there, right? For the last couple of months, OC had endured her zombie-like appearance and now…

 _She'll understand._ Max shook her head and knocked softly. 'OC, you're up, right?'

She pushed the door slowly and when she didn't hear any response, she sighed, the room was empty. Her feet treaded on the carpet slowly as she made her way to OC's bed and for a few seconds, she glanced around her best friend's room.

She had been so wrapped up in her personal pain, she had neglected her duties to others who were still around her and she knew without a doubt that OC was the one who had felt the full brunt of her 'betrayal'. Max took a deep breath and fingered OC's alarm clock that was lying on her bedside table.

She opened one of the drawers and took out a piece of paper. _Dear OC,_ she wrote silently.

_I am so very sorry I have been such an ass the last couple of months. Yeah, you were right… as usual, and I was wrong (for once ha!). And now you already know what I'm supposed to do, right? Yup, I'm gonna find his sorry ass and haul him back here, whether he wants to or not. Sorry I didn't listen to you sooner, but apparently I like taking my time on matters like this._

_Oh yeah, make up some excuses to Normal, will you? I'm sure he won't flip… much, but I was (and still am) his employee of the month!_

Max signed her flippant note with a flourish and propped it by the bedside table. Without a backward glance, she walked out of OC's room and grabbed her light bag. All was still silent as she closed the door to her apartment and walked out of the building. She hitched her bags up and filled her lungs with the crisp morning air. It was too early for the usual polluted air and she was thankful for that.

The road was still devoid of its never-ending traffic and with each step she took, her heart was lighter. All those burdens that she was carrying started to dissipate as her resolve to find him hardened. And even though she knew that the road in front of her was winding at its best and treacherous at its very worst, nothing could dampen her spirits now.

She sighed, now that she can actually think clearly without having an emotional breakdown, everything was becoming clearer. Why he acted and said the things he did. She berated herself for why she had let it come to this, she should have done this months ago. Max heaved a troubled sigh; maybe she was not ready to face the situation then. She took a deep breath after she jumped on her bike and within seconds, she was off.

* * *

Adam grabbed a bale of hay and tossed it into the stables. His muscles moved easily, not finding the task beyond their limit or anything. He had found out that he could work practically all day and still have the energy to do more.

Mary had laughingly called him a stallion and he recalled being bewildered by it. His arms never lost their momentum as he heaved the hay into its respective stalls. He never had the time to ponder on the fact that there was only the three of them running the farm.

Adam was too comfortable with the absence of humanity to push the subject further. And yet, something niggled at the back of his mind, but that only happened once or twice, so he was more than happy to let the matter drop. He petted one sleek neck before turning to get more hay.

A loud whinny made him turn towards the farthest stall on the left. A big stallion with a gleaming black coat and proud eyes stood impatiently, tossing his thick dark mane. The powerful front leg pawed the ground restlessly. Annoyance was apparent on every line of his body.

Without missing a beat, Adam continued with his task, keeping the black stallion in the peripheral of his vision. But the big horse refused to acknowledge the man's lack of attention. He pawed the ground, whinnying loudly behind the veil of dust he stirred up.

After he tossed the last bale, Adam straightened slowly, stretching his back in the process. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the black devil's rising impatience. With a small smile, he petted the sleek neck, feeling the pent-up energy swirling just below the surface.

'I'm sorry old friend, can't take you out right now. What about later this afternoon?'

The stallion tossed his big head in reluctant agreement but the glint in his dark eyes dared the man to go back on his words.

The hesitant smile flickered again at the dictatorial glance, 'Yeah, yeah... you're the boss.' He ran his fingers over the muscular neck in a farewell pat before turning towards the big house for his breakfast.

Adam pushed the kitchen door slowly, leaving silence behind as he entered the noisy kitchen. His feet faltered for a second, his typical response to being assaulted by this rowdy, brightly lit room before he purposely took the next step. It never failed to amaze him how a mere two people can produce such level of racket, but now it kinda grew on him.

'Adam!'

He stiffened the urge to stand still but produced another smile instead.

'Did the storm bother you last night?'

He shook his head, 'No Mary, not really.'

It was true, storms had no effect on him. Rather, he loved hearing the sound it made as the rain pounded against something; the windows, the walls, the ground. There was just something about rain that calmed him down. Maybe it was the sort of freedom every raindrop had in deciding where it should land that appealed to him.

And the air smelled absolutely wonderful after it rained. Last night, he took a quick walk around the farm after the storm stopped, filling his lungs with frosty, fresh air as he surveyed the extent of the damage that the storm left behind. Maybe that was one of the reasons why he had woken up feeling so nostalgic all of a sudden.

'You look absolutely famished, my boy,' Mary beamed at the cautious young man. 'Come on, sit down. I haven't made all this for myself.'

'Go on, Adam. You know how Mary is with her cooking. Grab a plate, son.'

Without further urging Adam sat and Mary puts down a heavily laden plate. 'You boys need a lot of energy. So dig in.'

Adam let Mary and Buddy's chatter swirl over him for a while as he dug through Mary's marvelous breakfast. His own thoughts started to wander around his tasks for the day as Buddy suddenly turned towards him and asked, 'Adam, do we need more gasoline?'

'No, we're fine for now but I think we should get more, just in case. I'm still going to the town for the supplies today, right?'

'If you feel you're up to it,' Mary interrupted. 'Oh, since you're going, would you be a dear and grab me some more wool for my knitting? I just need some more to finish my project.' Mary winked at him and Adam smiled.

He had a feeling the project was probably a sweater for him, from the way Mary had made excuses to suddenly measure him or her sudden quiz on his favourite colour and all.

'Sure Mary. Just give me a sample and I'll get it for you.'

'You're such a sweetheart,' she kissed his cheek, beaming in her delight.

'Anything for you, Buddy?' Adam turned towards the older man.

'No, thanks. One second,' Buddy frowned, 'did I tell you that we're going to have a houseguest? I got the call last night but with the storm and everything, it must've slipped my mind. Andrew called last night,' he turned to his wife. 'Remember him? Andrew Saddleworth?' After Mary nodded in agreement, he continued, 'He asked if we could have Charlie over for a couple of weeks or so and I said it was fine. Andrew mentioned something about Charlie needing a change of scenery and I told him that there's no better place than our farm.'

'Oh, that poor little child,' Mary sighed, 'Charlie was always a delight to have over. Those dark hair and those green eyes...'

'There she goes again,' Buddy chuckled, 'You're talking like that child is still five. If I'm not mistaken, I think Charlie must be almost eighteen this year.'

Adam pushed his empty plate and took his mug filled hot coffee. He took a sip and the mere taste worked wonders on him. 'Mary, you make the best coffee ever.'

'What a charmer,' but she smiled indulgently. 'Make sure you get our Charlie here safe and sound, and I'll cook whatever you want to eat.'

'It's a deal,' Adam smiled and put down the empty mug. 'I'll see you guys later.' He grabbed his Stetson by the door, waved his goodbye and then he was gone.

* * *

The big mansion was as still and silent as a tomb. Andrew Saddleworth shook off the clinging sensation of being watched and went on with his duty to inspect the household chores. As he passed the library, the phone rang, shattering the overwhelming silence. He picked up the phone, feeling grateful for the sudden interruption.

'Stephen Kirlington's residence.' His straight posture stiffened to attention, 'Yes, Mr Kirlington.'

'How's everything over there? Do you have any problem with Charlene?'

'No, sir. She's on her way now as we speak, but I think there is something you should know.' As the butler continued to inform the Master about his daughter's reaction to his sudden order, silence grew on the other side of the line.

After a long pregnant pause, the Master spoke, 'I see.'

'Yes, Mr Kirlington. I did remind your assistant to fit your schedule for the dinner, however…'

'Never mind,' Kirlington waved it aside without concern, 'Just make sure she gets there… and stays there.'

Andrew Saddleworth sighed as the line was disconnected abruptly, leaving him with the flat dialing tone. He put the receiver down slowly, his frown deepened with his dark thoughts.

However, a second later, he picked the phone again before dialing rapidly. He sighed heavily as he waited for his call to go through, his brow crinkled in his preoccupation. 'Yes Miss Charlene, this is Saddleworth speaking.'

'Yeah Sandy, what is it?'

'No, it's nothing really. I just want to make sure everything is fine with you. Do you need anything else?'

The girl was silent for a moment before she shook her head weakly, forgetting that he was unable to see it. 'No, I'm fine. Thanks for asking, Sandy.'

'Take care of yourself, Charlie. Mary and Buddy are good people, they'll take care of you. If you need anything...'

'I know, Sandy.' She smiled weakly but tears were already glistering, coating her green eyes. 'I know the drill.'

'Very well,' his heavy sigh broke her heart and her tears slid down her pale face.

'I'll talk to you soon, okay? Take care of yourself, Sandy.' Without another word, she hit the end button and turned towards the window, watching the whizzing scenery with hot and blurry eyes. She scrubbed the tears from her cheeks roughly. _This is the last time I'll cry. No more tears for me._

Saddleworth turned from the table and walked towards the window, the spot where his little mistress often spent her time, whether reading, studying, thinking or just day dreaming. The worry in his old eyes was apparent as he stared out into the serene garden. 'You'll be fine, Charlie... stay safe, dear.'

* * *

Behind the heavily tinted windows, not a soul was aware of the thick atmosphere that was smothering its occupant. The men in their perfectly pressed suits exchanged uncomfortable glances with each other. They had their orders, but human nature such as curiosity could not be easily stifled, even though they were hardcore army personnel.

One of them shot a nervous look at their single passenger. She was looking with no concern out the window, watching the passing scene with bored eyes. Her heavy black hair made it difficult for any of them to gauge her feelings, but from her nonchalant posture, this girl didn't give a damn what was in store for her.

The driver mentally shook his head. She was one cool customer, this Charlene Kirlington. Throughout the journey, the only time she showed a hint of human emotion was when she got that call. After she hung up, she was as stiff as a statue... and as emotionless as one.

As far as anyone could say, she could be heading off for an afternoon of leisurely shopping, instead of being sent away by her own father. No one really knew what had really happened, especially the lower staff. Oh, the gossip and self-made assumptions have been flying around about what they assumed and what they guessed to be the truth.

Miss Charlene had another row with her father and now the old man had disowned her, or she had had an affair with one of the stable boys and now she's pregnant. There was also something about Mr Kirlington's business rivals who were trying to ruin him through his daughter.

The most famous rumour that was flying around the mansion was that Miss Charlene didn't agree to an arranged marriage and now she's running away and apparently the butler has a hand in helping her flee the country. After all, it was always the butler.

The master only dropped by the mansion occasionally, the most frequent visit he ever made was twice in a year and his daughter was like a pale ghost floating around the mansion, all alone. Everyone felt sorry for the young girl, she had grown up all alone without a parent and since the Master forbade the girl from fraternizing with them, she really didn't have anybody to talk to.

Add to that, Saddleworth the butler was uncompromisingly tight lipped about the whole situation and since the three main players weren't talking, the audience felt the need to write their own script. That was the human nature, after all.

However, there was something that made a dent in their last theory. The master himself had called personally, ordering a set of men to 'chaperone' Miss Charlene. That had been quite a blow to the employees' rumour mill but nonetheless that was not the last of the bewildering turns this story was taking.

Those men were asked to drive Miss Charlene to a pre-determined spot where they were to drop her off. After that, she will be driven to her unknown destination by Mr Kirlington's personal assistant.

The mystery continued to suffocate the employees as one of them mentioned the fact that tinted limos practically screamed mystery and secret agents. The driver shook his head, hard. He had been listening to the kitchen gossip a little too much before he snuck a glance at the rearview mirror.

As usual, she was looking out the window with hooded, bored eyes and slowly, his interest in the whole matter dissolved and he turned his attention back to driving.

* * *

In the heat of the late morning sun, Adam piled the supplies onto his truck, tying the gasoline containers securely to make sure they stayed put during the ride home. He glanced at the rising sun and kept on with his task. The milling crowd around the truck moved hurriedly as they raced to their destination. Under the shadow of his hat, Adam's eyes moved restlessly, crowded areas always had the effect of making him uncomfortable.

He always had the weirdest sensation of being followed or someone was ready to drag him back to… somewhere. Hell, most probably. He had no idea how he got it. Traumatic childhood? Maybe one of these days he could gather the courage to ask Mary or Buddy about his earlier years. He always thought about asking them about his history and such but there was always something holding him back.

Like some people say, ignorance is bliss. Maybe his subconscious was just warning him about an evil stepfather who beat him up to a pulp and almost sold him into slavery perhaps? There were some things you're better off not knowing.

His keen eyes made another thorough sweep of his surroundings. He had no idea how he knew that he was safe at the moment, but somehow, he just did. And somehow, that fact didn't make him feel any better. On the contrary, it fueled his restlessness. A ragged breath slipped through his lips and he forced his bunched muscles to relax a bit, his customary reaction on days like this.

He took another quick look around the town of Silver River and he came to the same conclusion as before. Silver River was one big bustling town and as was customary with other big and bustling towns, the occupants of these places tend to keep to themselves, as everybody mind their own business.

You could be living next door to the town's dentist but you wouldn't know it if he didn't happen to be your regular dentist. Because of the large number of people, most of them tended to disappear into the background and he can't honestly say he found fault with that.

* * *

One slender leg emerged from a black car before its partner followed suit. A second later, the figure of a petite girl in a demure green summer dress stood by the door, boredom and cold composure painted heavily across her features. She grabbed one small backpack, ignoring the driver's shock as he saw the suitcases she had left behind and without a word to him, walked towards the bustling crowd.

Charlie reached upwards and ran her fingers through her long black tresses, flipping them over her shoulders. No one will order her around anymore; she's her own woman now. The brisk walk faltered when she saw a glittering signboard across the road and a beat passed before her eyes lit up mischievously and a satisfied grin whisked across her small face.

Her green eyes flitted towards the window of the shop as she tilted her head, watching how the light played with her silky black hair. Charlie tossed her hair over the shoulder with one careless flick and entered the shop.

An hour later, the long straight black hair was cut just above her shoulders, framing her face, making it rounder... fuller. And without the heavy hair to hide behind as she customarily did, she stood straighter as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. And indeed it had.

She lost the need to make her father notice her, the need to be someone for him, someone he could be proud of. The desperate need to make him love her, need her, want her. To have his attention on her for a full five minutes.

She knew now that it was a lost cause and after last night, she finally understood that. And she made her peace with it. It will be a very long time before she can forgive her father however, but now she won't kill herself over him. It still hurt, definitely, but she'll find a way to cope.

Sandy had told her countless times that she was a fighter, a survivor, and she'll prove his words true. He's one fine man, her Sandy was, and her eyes lightened in response. She ran experimental fingers over her new hairdo and smiled. She loved this new side of her and wondered briefly why she didn't do this years ago.

Charlie stood in front of a window and posed, watching the sunlight glinting against the bright purple highlights. The old man would flip if he knew what she had done to her hair, and that was one of the reasons why she decided to do so. The purple clashed merrily with her glassy green eyes and her smile widened.

Perfect. Just perfect.

She turned her wrist and frowned, she still has time to spare. Her stomach chose that very moment to growl and within seconds, the young woman walked towards the nearest diner. She was supposed to meet Mary and Buddy there anyway.

The heightened noise and constant movement hit her immediately and Charlie faltered for a second. Her eyes moved warily across the packed room before she resumed walking and head for the back of the room where she had seen a couple of empty tables. She only sat for a full two seconds before a harassed looking lady materialized besides her, handing her the diner's menu.

'Welcome to Slim River, the best diner in Silver River. What can I get you today?'

'Coffee, sugar and cream. Lots of both.' She pushed the unopened menu towards the waiting waitress and added, 'And can I have a plate of waffles too?'

'Sure sweetheart. Anything else?'

'No thanks, that's all.' Charlie missed the preoccupied smile the waitress gave her as she turned towards the window and stared unblinkingly out at the moving crowd, waiting for the people who were going to take her off her father's hands.

_So, that's what I am, Father? A problem you can hand over to others? But I can promise you something, dear Father, they're going to regret the moment they said yes to your little proposal._

* * *

Adam patted the last bag of groceries, satisfied with the day's work. He double-checked everything again, just to make sure he got it all and breathed out a sigh of relief. All done.

He wiped his dusty hands on the seat of his jeans before he ran a finger unconsciously along the rim of his Stetson, lowering the rim further down his face. The slanted shadow hovered over his face, hiding his inscrutable features from view. He pushed the hint of apprehension away and then he realized that it was almost time to meet with Mary and Buddy's new houseguest. His eyes tried to locate the diner where Buddy had mentioned he'll be waiting.

Adam ran a hand over his flattened hair before he put the Stetson back on and hoped dearly that he's not going to baby sit a hormonally-charged adolescent with nothing but girls on his mind. He didn't need the additional job, which would most likely distract him from his tasks at the farm. Too bad for the kid, with only the four of them on the farm and no immediate neighbours for miles.

'Let's hope he has some kind of hobby to keep him busy… and away from me,' Adam muttered under his breath.

He spied a diner, filled with customers to a bursting point and wondered for a second how he was going to find this boy Charlie. After staring a few seconds at a sea of unfamiliar faces, he knew that it wouldn't work. All he knew about this Charlie was that he had green eyes and black hair. Right, that was something.

With a sigh, he moved towards the counter and waited for the waitress to notice him.

Charlie frowned and glanced at her watch before craning her neck to see if the waitress was approaching with her order. God, she was hungry enough to devour whatever was put in front of her and what does she have in front of her? Nothing.

She stood and made her way to the counter, and being on the small side, she managed to push past the crowd without apparent injury. As she was congratulating herself, the side of her head connected with someone else's hard and very sharp elbow.

'Hey, watch it!' she glared at the heavily built man, rubbing at her still tender head.

The man turned his 6' 4" frame towards her and his massive brow shot upwards at the sight that glowered at him.

'Sorry lil girl, I didn't see you there.'

She bristled at the tone and glared heatedly at the man, even though the fact that she didn't even reach past his shoulder did not faze her. 'Say that again?'

He looked down at the little spitfire cracking beside him and shrugged, 'Sorry.'

Charlie pushed past him, her jaw set in a frigid line, her temper was near the bursting point now. She took a deep breath and slipped past an elderly couple who were making their way out. As she managed to secure a place at the counter, she heard something that caught her attention.

'... Saddleworth. I'm supposed to pick the boy here. He's around eighteen, I think.'

'Hey, can I have a plate of fries? I ordered it like ages ago. Lots of ketchup on it, okay?' someone yelled from somewhere by the window.

'What his name again, dear?'

'Charlie Saddleworth. He has dark hair and... green eyes, I think.'

Charlie frowned heavily as she scrutinized the man talking to the waitress. _What? What's he talking about?_ She stared openly, noticing that his cowboy-styled hat hid half of his features from view. And she almost jumped out of her skin when the waitress hollered, 'Is Charlie Saddleworth here?'

Charlie only took two seconds to make her decision. She had no idea why this cowboy thought that she was a Saddleworth but that didn't worry her one bit. In fact, she was more than happy to drop her father's name. The part that he thought she was a boy irked her but she was willing to put it aside for a moment.

She pushed past a beefy man in sunglasses who was devouring a plate of eggs. One waitress was handing a full tray to a waiting waitress over the cowboy's shoulder. A sudden push from behind her made her surge forward and she called out as she did so, 'Hey, I'm Charlie!' and the extra momentum carried her much further than she anticipated.

The blond cowboy turned towards the sound of her voice and she saw his eyes widen in shock. She put out a hand, an instinctive reaction but the waitress took that very second to turn and her hand tangled with Charlie's outstretched ones.

The people around them widened their eyes in shock, as in slow motion the plate of fries clattered noisily down Charlie's green summer dress, leaving a trail of sticky red ketchup.

Adam leapt from his seat and managed to catch the almost empty plate, unknowingly moving too fast for an average man, but no one noticed it as their eyes were all trained on the girl.

She broke the silence with a taut, 'I think you're looking for me.'

He felt his brow rose and he straightened slowly, 'Excuse me?'

'Charlie Ki... Saddleworth... that's me.'

He was silent for a few seconds, his brow furrowed, and all around them the conversation started flowing again as everyone lost their interest in their little fiasco.

The waitress fluttered anxiously over her stained dress but the girl pushed her impatiently away. He saw a petite girl, probably not even 5' 2" with straight shoulder length black hair. His eyes strayed at the bright purple highlights before he realized that she owned a pair of large... dead eyes. Beautiful emerald eyes but they were so expressionless that he felt a chill racing down his spine.

'You're... Charlie?' he asked slowly before he realized that this girl _had_ dark hair and green eyes.

' _He asked if we could have Charlie over for a couple of weeks or so and I said it was fine. Andrew mentioned something about Charlie needing a change of scenery and I told him that there's no better place than our farm.'_

' _Oh, that poor little child. Charlie was always a delight to have over. Those dark hair and those green eyes...'_

' _There she goes again,' Buddy chuckled, 'You're talking like that child is still five. If I'm not mistaken, I think Charlie must be almost eighteen this year.'_

' _Make sure you get our Charlie here safe and sound, and I'll cook whatever you want to eat.'_

Damn, come to think of it, he didn't really hear Buddy and Mary told him that Charlie was actually a boy.

'Yup, that's me,' she stood so straight and stiff, and just by looking at her you forgot that she was standing with half a plate of ketchup splattered over herself.

'Right, sorry about the... umm... misunderstanding,' Adam cleared his throat uneasily. 'Do you want to eat something before we head back to the ranch?'

'I did order coffee and some waffles half an hour ago,' she said clearly. There was no malice in her tone but the woman behind the counter instantly replied with forced cheerfulness, 'Coffee and waffles, coming right up.'

'Sugar and cream, lots of both.'

The woman nodded silently as the girl made her way to the back of the diner, followed closely by the blond man.

They sat in front of each other and the silence grew by the minute. Adam took off his Stetson and put it next to him, ruffling his hair as he did so. 'So...' he coughed discretely, 'You must've known Mary and Buddy since you were small. I heard you stayed with them when you were younger.'

Charlie stared at the man in front of her, noticing the strong jaw and intelligent eyes. She gave a noncommittal shrug as an answer. 'No, I don't remember anything.'

'You must have been too young,' he nodded. The silence dragged on and he tried to take another stab at it, 'I'm sorry about your dress. Do you want to go clean up for a bit?'

This girl in front of him sure was a puzzle. The hair and the makeup did not go well with her demure summer dress. It was like two different sets of people had put this all together. Charlie pursed her lips and stared at the red splotch. At that very minute, a waitress stopped by their table and put in front of her a cup of coffee and her plate of waffles.

'Enjoy.' She turned to Adam, 'And what about you, do you want me to get you something?'

'No thanks, I'm fine.'

Charlie took the coffee without a word and sipped carefully, the hot liquid sliding down her throat with a murmur of gratitude. His puzzlement mounted as she just continued to enjoy her coffee.

'I don't mind waiting if you want to go freshen up.' He didn't think he had met anyone, especially a girl, who would rather sit there drinking coffee with a plateful of ketchup on their lap.

She waved it aside, with a new glint in her eyes, 'No worries, you're gonna take me shopping later.'

'What? When did I say that?'

'Since you look like a nice guy, I just assumed you're going to do it. Plus, I don't have anything else with me. And I never did like this dress.'

'Right,' his eyes narrowed suspiciously. 'If you really didn't like it, why did you wear it in the first place?'

Her face darkened, 'That was stupid of me, I thought it'll make him happy... but that will be the last time I did something for anyone else. From now on, it'll only be about me.'

Adam was starting to think that there was something seriously wrong with this girl, but since she's not exactly his responsibility, why the added headache?

She leaned forward and perched her chin on her hand, staring at him with interest, 'And maybe you should offer to buy me some clothes?'

'And why should I do that?'

'Isn't it… the polite thing to do?' she leaned back and continued to drink her coffee, apparently losing interest in him.

Adam narrowed his eyes as he tried to contemplate her. Even as she sat there peacefully drinking her coffee, he could sensed this prickly wall erected around her, designed to push everyone away.

'I mean,' she said suddenly, 'since it's almost your fault that I'm covered in this gooey mess.'

'Whoa! I had nothing to do with that!'

'Don't you whoa me, I'm not one of your horses, cowboy,' she glared. 'Because I was _heading_ towardsyou, the waitress dumped this on me. You're partly responsible.'

'That is ridiculous.'

'Not in my book,' she said dryly. She put down her cup and pulled the waffles towards her. She ate a mouthful and grimaced, pushing the plate away. 'I do love shopping, do you?' she said brightly, her dimples flashing and he glowered.

They had not taken ten steps into the store and he already had his hand full of clothes. It was a good thing that she didn't put some item of clothing up for his inspection and force some sort of opinion from him but just pulled the clothes from the rack and straight into his arms. T-shirts, jeans and tops flew towards him and he was starting to think that black was her favourite colour. Everything she dumped into his arms was black.

'Okay, I'm done,' she announced, 'You can go and pay for those. I want to check out those.' She pointed her hand to nowhere in particular and vanished.

Adam grumbled under his breath and walked towards the cashier and dropped the clothes with a clatter of hangers.

'I wish _my_ boyfriend wanted to go shopping with me,' the cashier said enviously as she scanned the barcode.

'She's not my girlfriend,' he muttered darkly.

'Hey, hon!' A voice sounded to his right, 'Are you done here? I need a pair to change into.'

The cashier raised her brow questioningly but didn't say a word.

Adam felt his face flush a delicate shade of red while beside him, Charlie was tugging at her spoiled dress regretfully. Her arms were laden with a number of bags already. When did she get those, by the way?

He grabbed her by the arms and steered her further away. 'What the hell are you doing?'

'Entertaining her,' she cocked her head towards the cashier who was straining to hear every single word. 'Do you have any idea how dull it is to just sit there while she's scanning stuff?'

'That's her job, I'm sure she knows how to keep herself entertained.'

'Aww come on. Live a bit, will you?' She marched to the cashier. After he paid for the clothes, she took one bag and grinned at him. 'Do you want to help me out of this, dear?'

'Come on,' he grumbled and pulled her away. She just laughed at his murderous expression and the cashier's scandalous look. He pushed her into the nearest fitting room and stand guard outside the door after he hissed a, 'Be quick!'

This girl was really trying to test his limits, he thought irately. How long does it take to take off an outfit before slipping into another? He was positively considering the idea of banging the door down when it swung open. He almost did a double take. Gone was the little girl in a green dress but in her place was someone else he barely recognized, apart from the bright purple highlights.

Her pale face was unadorned; she had wiped clean any traces of lipstick or blusher. This resulted in making her green eyes the dominant feature in her small face. She had done something with them with black kohl and dark eye shadow. She was wearing a black t-shirt with an abstract graphic at the front in red with dark jeans.

'Don't you think you should add a bit more colour to your wardrobe?' he asked bluntly.

'Nope.'

She's gonna be one hell of a houseguest, Adam thought ruefully and followed her into the busy street.

* * *

The door to the small, dark bar was yanked open and for a few seconds, its occupants were bathed with bright neon lights. And when the door swung back on its hinges, the room delved back to its original gloomy atmosphere. The long counter stretched at one corner of the room, where a lone barman was lazily drying a few clean glasses.

One customer was perched on a stool; one hand was supporting his head while the other twirled the half consumed scotch uninterestedly. His eyes followed the amber liquid's slow movement as it sloshed idly in its glass chamber. Behind him, a number of people were moving to the music that came from a jukebox, someone had chosen Lonestar's Amazed and they were dancing languidly as the slow music filled the air.

 _Every time our eyes meet_  
This feeling inside me  
Is almost more than I can take  
Baby when you touch me  
I can feel how much you love me  
And it just blows me away  
I've never been this close to anyone or anything  
I can hear your thoughts  
I can see your dreams 

A few tables were filled with groups of people who were too lazy to make it to the makeshift dance floor. Their hum of conversation mixed with the song and they intertwined with each other, resulting in a new blend of sound.

 _The smell of your skin_  
The taste of your kiss  
The way you whisper in the dark  
Your hair all around me  
Baby you surround me  
You touch every place in my heart  
Oh, it feels like the first time, every time  
I want to spend the whole night in your eyes 

The man at the bar ignored the rising noise behind him; he seemed to be in a world of his own as he continued to nurse his untouched drink, staring broodingly into its depth.

 _Every little thing that you do_  
I'm so in love with you  
It just keeps getting better  
I want to spend the rest of my life  
With you by my side  
Forever and ever  
Every little thing that you do  
Baby, I'm amazed by you

He watched how the dark liquid almost hid whatever was behind it but if he swirled it just so, tendrils of light snuck through, illuminating the glass for a few seconds.

 _How appropriate,_ he almost sneered. He had been living practically in the dark ever since he woke up in that hospital, and his recollection of the past and the information the others had given him about the present did not tally in any way.

Yeah, trapped inside a beautiful cage with ferocious waves that kept trying to pull him down. He could almost see what was outside of his glass prison, but every time he tried to reach out to free himself, his fingers would feel hard, cold glass underneath them.

Manticore was not your typical home-sweet-home place to grow up in, but in a way, it had been the rock that anchored him. Apparently, his anchor believed in torture and re-indoctrination, but hell, the world was not perfect, right? C'est la vie.

He drowned his glass in one gulp and he welcomed the hot blaze that ran down his throat. Like Ares had said, pain was just Nature's way of saying 'Hey! You're alive!' Something he had caught while flipping through the pre-pulse show.

Yup, televisions can be as addictive as a cup of steaming coffee, probably why Manticore had them banned, except for mission related tasks, of course. It would be hard to maintain a genetically engineered super soldier who rescheduled his hit list around old 'Fear Factor' reruns. God, that would be unthinkable.

He caught himself in mid-thought. That didn't sound like 494 at all.

No, there was no more Manticore and before he got back to Seattle and pried every morsel of Intel he possibly could from the girl, there was no reason to revert back to his old training. But old habits die hard, that's for sure.

The girl.

494 picked up his empty glass, turning it slowly in his hand as he stared unseeingly into its clear depth. The image of her plagued his dreams and he had lost count how many times he had woken up from sleep, drenched in sweat with his pulse thundering erratically in his throat with a wild desire to keep her safe.

From what, he had no idea but the almost daily occurrence was slowly draining his professional desire to despise her on sight. That girl must've done something and he wanted to know everything.

The barman filled his glass and from the corner of his eyes he saw two people approach the counter. They slipped onto their stools and signaled for the barman, 'Hi, two beers, please.'

The man was tall, with muscled arms and spiky blond hair while the girl he was with has long never-ending legs that look awesome even in faded jeans. Her brown hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and she was frowning at her friend.

'Look here, Mark. You can't just bail out on me like that! If you really want a day off then go and find someone to cover your shift, for god sake.'

'Chill out, it's no big deal. I'll find someone.'

'You always say that.'

'Yeah, and I always come through, right?'

'What are you doing exactly, tomorrow?'

'Something.'

'Oh, come on Mark. Grow up! You can't live your life like that, you're not a kid anymore.'

Mark took the beer and rolled his eyes in response. 'Whatever, Amy. You're just saying that because you can't see me with those girls, right?'

'Yeah right! Give me one reason why I should be jealous of you. It's not like I'm not seeing anyone right now.'

'Ha! That's a laugh. He only sees you as a girl who delivers his pizza.' He saw what Mark had also seen in Amy's eyes and he almost laughed as Mark frantically tried to backtrack, 'Oh god, I'm sorry. No, I didn't mean that…'

He took a swig of his glass and smirked inwardly. _What a complicated story. At least there's no Logan to screw up everything at every corner._

His hand stiffened in midair.

Logan.

That was another question he wanted to ask her and defiantly ignored the rush of emotion the mere word 'her' had conjured.

He left the couple, Mark still trying hard to make Amy talk to him, and he made his way to the back of the room. He went past a few people grinding down to MJ's Beat It and slipped into one of the empty tables.

From his back spectator seat, he surveyed the sparse room. There was only a handful of people scattered around the darkened bar. One disco ball was hanging crookedly from the ceiling but from the look of it, it hadn't been used in years. He could spot the tendrils of cobwebs that hung listlessly from it. It was a dreary place, but he wasn't choosy about the places he hung out at and this was just one of many.

After a while, shadows of her face invaded his thoughts again, as it usually did. In reaction, he gulped down half of his glass, probably wishing to chase away the thoughts of her as he got drunk. The thing that irked him the most was not the fact that she invaded his mind.

Hell, at these desperate times he'd even welcome Renfro herself if she could shed some light into his darkened mind, but what he hated was how he can only see glimpses of her.

Her eyes… her long hair… how she looked when she smiled… or if she was hopping mad. He had no idea what she was doing glaring at him from the corner of her eyes but that was the extent of his memory. He remembered images but he couldn't put a scenario with it.

After all these months of traveling, his thoughts on her were probably less… hostile than in the past but there was this nagging feeling that he was forgetting something major.

He rolled his eyes heavenward; that would be _the_ understatement of the year. That and how the word heaven had snuck in. He never believed in something as whimsical as heaven, something obviously man made up to compensate for their fear of dying.

He chased away the taste in his mouth in one long swallow and when he lowered the glass, two girls were smiling in front of him. His brow rose on their own accord and he noticed the long gleaming legs first, and his eyes traveled upwards appreciatively.

One of them had a clingy red leather skirt that showed off her legs to perfection while the other was wearing a white lacey slip where the hem was fluttering seductively against her tanned thigh.

He leaned back in his seat nonchalantly and one of them started to twirl her glossy dark hair.

'Hey there,' she smiled down at him. 'Want some company?'

His lips quirk in an interested smile but his eyes remained cold and calculated. 'Sure.'

They both sidled up to him and sat down on each side of him.

'What are you doing here all alone?'

'Waiting for you two?' he answered dryly and they giggled as Lace's hand started moving up his thigh.

'You're not from around here, are you? I've never seen you in here before.'

'I'm just passing by.'

'Then you must be really lonely tonight,' Leather whispered in his ear and Lace's hand inched upwards.

'Yeah, you can say that.'

'This is your lucky night, then.' The shadowy lights above reflected the red in her outfit to her eyes and without another word, she kissed him hard, her tongue already forcing its way in. On the other side of him Lace has straddled one of his thigh and her hands were tugging at his belt buckle.

_His eyes softened, a warm twinkle lit up his green eyes and his heart was thrashing wildly against his battered ribcage. Something he didn't dare to do after he had laid his eyes on her happened, a tiny seed of hope was planted deep in his wounded heart and slowly, gently, the seed grew. Embracing his bleeding heart with its warm glow and he looked at her hopefully, something he had refused to let himself do._

_Now, he started to let the glow of her love wrap itself around his haggard body._

_And dammit, that sure felt good._

He growled deep in his throat and broke the heated kiss, shaking his head as if to clear it of something. Lace let go of his pants and pulled him towards her and he smelled cheap beer on her breath. He fisted a handful of her hair to give him better access to her roving mouth while Leather was grabbing his other hand towards her.

_She had her eyes fixed on his, unconsciously letting the warmth in his guide her trembling legs to him. She clenched her teeth firmly and closed the gap between them, step by step; her eyes were still locked with his._

_Dark brown on greenish hazel._

_She stopped when she was standing right in front of him, drowning in the depth of his emerald gaze and she hardly noticed that she was trembling. He smiled when he saw how terrified she looked and when she saw how his expression had softened, tears started to well in her beautiful dark eyes. Her lips were trembling and she lowered her lids a bit, trying hard to get herself under control and then she saw it._

_He was holding out his hand towards her._

_She sobbed, deep in her throat as a solitary tear slide leisurely down her smooth cheeks. Slowly she lifted her hand and with equal slowness she placed it over his warm palm, her heart beating like a mad thing as her skin touched his. Another tear flew down as he closed his long fingers over hers tightly, enveloping her chilly hand in his warmer one._

He pulled Lace tighter against him as if he could block the flashes in his head with her nearness. Lace moaned and attacked his mouth while Leather had started to lick her way to his ear as she made her way to the back of his neck.

' _..But the naked fear I felt, it made me feel like I was better off dead along with you so that I didn't have to feel anything like that again.'_

_He remembered her words, ringing insistently in his ears as he thrashed between asleep and awake. It bounded constantly against his battered soul and every time it did so, a deep mark was left behind._

_No… no… he can't let her do that…_

_His head thrashed against his pillow, he was sweating so hard it looked like someone had just poured a bucket of water all over him._

'… _I was better off dead along with you…'_

_Nooo!_

_He shot up in his bed, eyes glazed and fear was imprinted on them._

With a start, he pushed them both away, terror in his eyes and panting hard. The girls moaned at the lost contact and tried to snuggle up to him. Still breathing hard, he put up his hand, 'No.'

They looked at each other, bewildered at his abrupt change of mind and before they could utter another word, he snatched his almost empty glass and marched towards the counter. Amy and Mark were already gone and he deposited his glass none too gently on the counter and slapped a twenty next to it.

Behind him, Lace and Leather were glowering at his brusque dismissal when he pushed the door apart. He walked quickly for a couple of blocks before he slowed down, his eyes were wide with unspoken panic. He grasped the rough wall desperately and he didn't even feel how the sharp surface was cutting into his flesh.

_What was that? What does that mean?_

The cool night air whipped against his heated skin but there was nothing that could douse the fire that was rampaging within him. He growled and ran a trembling hand across his hair and something wet trickled down his cheek.

Without emotion, he stared at his bleeding fingers, watching how the deep red fluid was dripping down his palm.

 _He needed her… he needed 452._ At least, she could stop this nightmare once and for all.

 

**Chapter 3: The Long Road**

 

* * *

_A few months ago_

The weather today was as perfect as it can be. Behind fluffy white clouds, the sun shone brightly, and under the cool shade of trees, people were basking in the heat; playing, laughing, and tossing Frisbees.

However, inside a closed meeting room the atmosphere was a complete contrast. Silence hung over the room like a heavy veil and the tension was so palpable, most of its occupants were drowning in fear, or would be if they knew what fear was.

The men in front of the table stood quietly, eyes trained on the one in charge. As a coveted Familiar, they were blessed without the burden of fear or pain or other trivial emotions but, these men did have a degree of discomfort as they stood rooted in the office.

'There's a story going around that Ames White is dead,' one man whispered to the other next to him.

'What? Whoever made that up is crazy, man.'

Their eyes strayed to their boss but he was still busy talking on the phone and completely oblivious to their whispered talk.

'You think that's crazy? Word has it, he was murdered. By a transgenic.'

'Now _you're_ crazy.'

'It gets crazier. Remember the team of Phalanx he was with? Notice how White _and_ the team are not around anymore? Seems like they were all wasted.'

The other Familiar closed his gaped jaw with an effort. 'That's insane. But since you mentioned it… I don't think I've seen any of them around.'

'Yeah, that's the thing.'

On the other side of the glossy dark stretch of wood, a tall man was pacing the floor, speaking hurriedly into his phone.

'What? Is that confirmed? How is that possible?' He stopped his frantic pacing and listened to his caller. 'I see. Then I want to know who, why, and what killed him. And how quickly can we get the body? I don't want those animals to have their hands on them any longer than necessary.'

He was silent for a few more minutes before he nodded. 'Yes, I understand. Proceed with caution. I don't want this to get out or it'll compromise what we have so far.'

'Yes, we have a huge mess on our hands, but we'll clean it up. Then we'll wipe out all the unworthy animals. Fen'os tol.'

He turned towards his waiting men and they snapped to attention. 'Double check and verify Ames White's death. Go and find out who's responsible. I want every detail.'

Without a word, they disappeared and the man slumped into his chair.

'I'll find your murderer, Ames. And he'll pay.'

* * *

_A few weeks ago_

Outside the window, the black figure of trees waved slowly in the soft breeze. Perched on the sill, a still figure propped her chin on her knees, staring unblinkingly at the dark stretch. She sighed heavily and unwrapped her arms from her legs and jumped down. She stretched out the kinks from her limbs and groaned, running her knuckles over her eyes irritably.

Charlie was going out of her mind with lack of things to do, stranded here on this farm in the middle of nowhere. She'd been here for what… 6 days? But it felt like 6 years already.

From her dresser, she grabbed a light sweater and put it over the baggy t-shirt she wore to bed. She padded to the kitchen softly, barefoot, walking silently in the dark. Ignoring the light switch alone, she head towards the fridge, leaving the door open for light. Charlie walked to the coffee maker and turned it on, watching the hot dark liquid drip down into the waiting pot.

She pushed the kitchen window apart, and immediately a gentle wind floated in, enveloping her in its refreshing lift. The sound of the old grandfather clock snapped her from her blank thoughts and Charlie turned to pour herself a cup of coffee. She rummaged through the open fridge and poured a huge dollop of cream before adding a generous amount of sugar into her full mug.

She took her coffee to the table and sat, sipping slowly. As she stared into the dark brown liquid, she mentally listed her woes and worries.

1\. She was cut off from civilization. (But then, that wasn't news to her, so nothing different there.)

2\. Mary and Buddy hovered over her like a couple of nervous chickens. (Which she found somewhat adorable.)

3\. Adam.

Charlie had never in her life experienced having someone close to her age around and one part of her rejoiced in that, but another part of her felt that immeasurable thrill in testing his patience limit. She had hounded him, asking impossible and plain weird questions, just to see his reaction to it.

She laughed as yesterday's event paraded in her mind.

'Adam!' She had shouted from twenty feet away. When she saw the quick roll of his eyes, she grinned as Adam picks up a bucket.

Pretending he didn't hear or see her, he walked quickly to one cow and started to milk her.

'Why do you have to milk her every morning? Can't you get the milk from a store or something?' she panted.

'I don't have the time to drive forty miles every morning so you can have milk with your cereal,' he glared.

'Ooh.' She sat, cross legged on the ground, her green eyes watching his quick fingers. The ends of her black hair whispered against her dark t-shirt in the breeze. 'Does it feel funny to do that?'

'Do what?'

'You know, milk the cow?'

'No,' he answered abruptly.

'Do you think _she_ feels funny to have you milk her?' she persisted.

'What?'

'You know, having you squeeze and pull and tug at her...' she nodded towards the cow's udder.

Feeling the heat rush over his face, he stopped milking the cow and grabbed his half full bucket and walked away. 'Maybe you can go and help Mary feed the chickens or something.'

'What? You're not going to answer my questions? If you don't answer them, how will I learn anything?'

'Remember to ask Mary about the cow question. She'll have a better answer.'

Charlie chuckled and blew a couple of times over the hot cup before she took another sip. The sweet liquid slipped tantalizingly down her throat and out of nowhere another memory popped up.

She couldn't remember feeling happier. Her father was coming in less than an hour. For a ten year old girl who was starving for her father's love, today was the day she had been dreaming of for months. Her big bright eyes sparkled with anticipation as she smoothed down her skirt. She took a quick look at herself in the window's reflection and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ears. She needed to be perfect for her father. He deserved nothing less.

Her long black hair fell in a smooth straight curtain down her back with a heavy bang that framed her small face. She jumped from her seat impatiently and ran towards the window, standing on her toes to see over the ledge.

'Miss Charlene.'

She jumped and turned towards the voice. 'Sandy, is my father here?' she shrieked eagerly, her deep dimples flashing in her excitement while she raced towards him.

His weathered face creaked into a small smile as he nodded lightly. He opened the door wider and from behind him, a tall man with broad shoulders emerged, his face serious and unsmiling.

Charlie stood still, her green eyes were wide in excitement as she visibly restrained herself from flinging herself into his arms.

Mr Kirlington walked quickly to the lounge chair by the window and sat. He turned and when he saw she was still standing in the middle of the room, watching him intently, he finally spoke. "Why are you still standing there? Come here and sit down.'

A big smile broke over her face and she ran to his side without delay. His dark eyes narrowed immediately. 'Don't run, please. You look like the cook's daughter when you do that.'

The small girl stopped her headlong race and walked slowly, worry glinting in her eyes at the thought of further disappointing her father. She sat at the edge of her seat, hands firmly clasped in front of her in a demure fashion.

Saddleworth was about to place a cup of coffee in front of Kirlington when suddenly Charlie jumped from her seat. 'Can I do that, Sandy?'

After a small nod from the master, he took a step backwards.

'I'll be your hostess for today. What can I get you, sir?' she asked merrily.

'Coffee. Black.'

He leaned back in his chair and his eyes strayed to the garden. Charlie's stream of chatter flew over him and when she placed the cup in front of him, he turned towards her. Charlie smiled expectantly and waited with impatience as he lifted the cup towards his lips. He took one sip and exploded, coffee spraying everywhere.

'What is this?' he roared. 'I told you I don't want anything in my coffee.'

'But… but,' the girl plainly cowered, 'I want you to have something nice and sweet.'

'I don't _need_ something nice and sweet. Do you _know_ who we are? We are…' he stopped suddenly and forced himself to calm down. 'Saddleworth, take Charlene back to her room.'

The butler's face was grave as he scooped the weeping girl into his arms and left quietly.

The sudden burst of light startled her out of her memory. Charlie turned to the door and her stiff shoulders relaxed.

Mary walked into the kitchen, a frown on her face. 'What are you doing in the dark? You're up very early today.'

'Yeah,' she smiled and shrugged.

'What do you want for breakfast today? Anything particular? You only took a bite from my waffles yesterday.'

'I wasn't too hungry yesterday. You know Mary, I have a sudden craving for some good old French toast. Is that okay?'

'Sure,' Mary smiled as she reached for her apron. 'No problem at all.'

'Can I go down to the stables later?'

'Yeah. If you need any help, just ask Adam.'

'Sure. I'll do that.' She grinned.

After she was done with her coffee, Charlie turned and went up to her room to get dressed.

* * *

_A few weeks later._

A slender girl hopped down from her black bike and took her helmet off. Waves of dark hair cascaded down her back and in the comfort of his air-conditioned office, Peter Briscone gaped at the scene.

 _God Almighty, that is one fine girl._ He rushed outside and pushed aside the girl at the counter with a hurried whisper, 'Go… go check the stock or something.'

'What?'

'Go! I'll take over.'

She turned and saw what – or who – her boss was drooling over. Of course. They didn't call him the resident Sniffer for nothing. He'd sniffed a lamp post if it was in skirts and that was the only reason why she was stuck working with him. All the other girls refused the post and since he paid so little for the job, no man wanted to pick it up either.

She glared at her brother and he shooed her again, his eyes never leaving the stunning brunette. 'Stock, Penny?'

'Whatever,' she shrugged and left. She hadn't taken two steps when the bell jingled, announcing a new customer. From the corner of her eye, Penny saw Pete make a last minute check on his hair before smiling broadly at the girl. She was just heading to the back when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

'Hi, can I ask you something?'

Penny turned, a bit bewildered but she managed to throw a glance at Pete, who was looking flustered as well. 'Of course, what can I do to help you?'

'Yeah, I was wondering if you remember someone…'

'Hello,' Pete interrupted, a wide smile was plastered over his face. 'I'm Peter Briscone, the manager here. Can I help you with something?'

Max waved a hand dismissively, 'No, thanks. I think,' her eyes flickered towards the name tag, 'Penny here can help me.'

'I doubt that,' he positively shoved his sister towards the storeroom. 'Whatever it is, I'm sure I can help you.'

'Look here, mister. I need to borrow your employee for a bit, if you don't mind. It'll just take a minute.' Max clasped her hand securely on Penny's arm and steered her further away. 'One minute.' She held out a finger after Pete made a move to follow them.

Pete frowned, unable to believe what he was seeing. This didn't make any sense, none whatsoever. Not unless…

His eyes narrowed speculatively as he eyed the girl. That must be it. It was virtually impossible that she would ignore him completely and made a beeline for Penny. If she was looking to buy something in particular, shouldn't she ask the friendly manager who just happened to be smiling at the counter? It was the logical thing to do, right?

He shook his head sadly. Too bad, she was one hell of a looker and she's not straight. Damn. Just his luck.

Pete cleared his throat agitatedly. Both of them seemed to be getting on well. Penny was nodding and making wild gestures with her hand while the girl was smiling, her eyes bright. A few minutes later, the girl grabbed some food and head towards the counter. She paid for her purchases, smiling the whole time.

The suspense was killing him and he went to the storeroom to hunt Penny down. 'What did she want with you?'

'It bothers you, doesn't it?' she gloated. 'That she came to me instead of being bowled over by your charm?'

'No. Now tell me, what did she want?' His voice raised a couple of octaves on the shrill scale though.

Penny laughed at his desperate look and took pity on him. 'She's looking for someone.'

'She could've asked _me_ that,' he glared.

'But she's looking for a guy, you moron. And she did mentioned that girls do tend to notice guys better and me, being the girl that I am, do notice guys, especially if he's above average in the looks department. And she did say that he's more than easy on the eyes.'

'That's it?'

'That's it.'

'And you've seen this guy?' he asked skeptically.

'Based on her description, two weeks ago, give or take. There are not a lot of green eyed, light haired hunks dropping in here,' her eyebrow rose, 'not like you'd notice if a bunch of them paraded in front of you.' Penny laughed as she watched her brother walk away dejectedly. _Maybe this will ground him to earth for a bit._

Miles away, Max sped on her bike towards the direction that Penny had given. This was one of her more reliable sources and she was getting nearer to him.

_Just wait for me, Alec. I'll found you, wherever you are._

* * *

A sleek car sped along a deserted road. In the backseat, a man was reading the paper. Suddenly, the silence was broken by the shrill sound of his cell phone.

'Yes?' He leaned back, a hint of a smile over his thin lips before he straightened in a hurry. 'A transgenic? So the rumors _are_ true. Now I want to know _how_ that is possible.'

The smile on his lips widened a little. 'You have a copy of the surveillance tape? That's even better. Make sure it doesn't leak out. I don't want the embarrassment of having to explain why one of our own is dead by the hands of one of those damned creatures. And only one of them, by the look of things. How can one measly transgenic kill our highly trained team? I want all the sordid details It's hard enough to contain this incident as it is. And start a search for the transgenic, X5494. If Ames wanted him dead, then he will be. I want to finish what he started and I want both of them. 494 _and_ 452\. Find them, then I'll kill them with my own hands. Track both of them. Go to everywhere they've been and find them.'

* * *

_Present day_

It was starting to get dark as he made his way to yet another motel. He surveyed his surroundings, just out of habit as he walked towards his given room.

The dude at the counter had not even lifted his eyes from the WWE Live! that he was watching. He just slipped over a key after he received his payment. It was quite the feat, considering the fact that the whole transaction had occurred while his eyes were glued to his tv set.

Without waiting for the light to flood the room, he strode in and threw his jacket where it landed on the only armchair in the room. He switched on the tv, pumped up the volume to chase away the silence and dropped on the bed. The bedspread felt scratchy against his skin but that was not something he cared about. He had other things to worry about right then.

He closed his eyes and felt the headache that was threatening to surface a few hours ago started to pound with ferocious intensity. Things had not been going well. He was plagued by nightmares during the night and those irritating unfathomable images in his head throughout the day.

He rarely ate nowadays, it was a good thing he was genetically engineered not to depend on food because his main diet nowadays mostly consisted of what was available in bars. He massaged his temple as it felt that it was near the bursting point. He sat suddenly and the unexpected shift made him wince.

Ignoring the thunderous pain, he grabbed his blue towel and headed for the bathroom. The cold water felt good against his burning skin and he was tempted to just stay in the shower all night long. But only a few minutes later, he turned the water off. Less than ten minutes after that, he was out.

* * *

Max took one last gulp of soda and stood, leaving the fast food joint quickly. She stood at the entrance for a while, surveying the surroundings around her. Things here were not that different from Seattle. It was just beginning get dark but the streets were as crowded as ever. Everyone was hunched in their coats as they scurried off to their destinations.

Desperation reeked in every direction but this was hardly surprising as she practically grew up within this very environment. She joined the crowd and walked quickly, putting her hood up. She felt someone's eyes boring into her and she turned. Her eyes found suspicious gray eyes that bore inquisitively into hers.

Max slipped her hands into her coat and walked on, ignoring the woman. This was the city where everyone stared at each other suspiciously, as in every other sector in the nation. She walked rapidly and scanned the area around her as she did, trying to locate and seek out nightclubs, bars and other forms of night time entertainment premises.

If she knew Alec, he'd drop in on one of those places sooner or later. She had no idea what he was like as 494 but she was betting on his Alec side to surface when he saw the bright neon signboards winking seductively at him. That was one of her better optionsto track him down.

As she made it to her bike, she quickly hopped onto it and her bike roared as she whizzed past the streets.

Max was just about to enter a bar when something caught her attention. She turned towards the source and frowned. Two heavy set men were arguing with a woman. Both of the men were wearing ripped sleeveless tank tops that clung to their muscled torso. One man had a huge tattoo of an eagle spreading its wing on his upper arm. They were both tall, 6'5'' on a guess and they resembled stout trees on legs.

The woman was visibly quivering as she faced them but whether it was bravery or stupidity, she was holding her ground. 'I don't care, it's not my problem Steven skipped town.'

'Oh, it is little girl,' one sneered menacingly. 'We want our money back and we don't care who we get it from.'

'I don't even know Steven that well,' she wailed, 'We were just on one date. One!'

'Spare me the details. I don't like them,' he hissed.

'If you were stupid enough to lend it to him in the first place, then go and find him then,' she croaked. 'Why are you harassing me like this?'

'Don't you hear me, lady? We want our money back and since little Steve is not here…' he approached threateningly.

'Hey you, dumb and dumber!' Max called out. _Wait a second, did she just quote something from the tv? Alec would be so proud of her._ She shook herself hard but she had gotten their attention on the first attempt. 'Does it make you feel more like a man to pick on a helpless woman?'

The men turned to the frightened woman. 'Do you know her… or are you two related in any way?'

She shook her head hard, her eyes were wide in her pale face as she almost glued herself into the wall.

'She don't know you, you don't know her. Why are we having this conversation?' the man with the tattoo growled.

'I'm just doing this as community service, you know, give something back to society,' she smiled pleasantly but her eyes were turning into shards of ice.

'What the hell are you yapping on about?' They turned to her as the woman shrunk further away.

 _That's it… Just a little bit more. Come on, I'm in the mood to bash a few heads anyway._ She smiled and waited for them to come to her. _Stupid men, how can they be this easy?_

When they were a few feet away, they barged, yelling menacingly as they practically flew towards her. Max ducked and planted a nice kick on the tattooed guy's back and he stumbled a few feet forward, arms flying everywhere.

The other man growled, and Max noticed that he had a few teeth missing. He drew back his hand as he ran, and Max didn't wait for him to come to her. She jumped forward and with a few well placed punches, he went down with a crash.

'The bigger they are, the harder they fall,' she smirked and cracked her fist.

His eyes darted wildly but his ego was bruised that this slip of a girl managed to lay her hands on him and he roared as he rushed towards her. His fist connected firmly against the side of her head and she felt her vision swim.

Damn, she had been distracted.

She grabbed his head and slammed it against the nearest wall. Max felt her tender head and winced as she walked away from the scene. The woman was already gone and Max didn't feel like running after her to make sure she was safe.

She ran one hand through her tangled hair and entered the noisy club.

* * *

In the alley where she left them, the two men stirred feebly before they climbed to their feet unsteadily. What the hell had happened? That girl looked like she didn't get enough to eat and yet she managed to beat them to the ground? She must be one hell of a lucky girl to even land herself some punches on them.

They both turned and looked at each other. 'I think it's time to gather some reinforcement. A rematch probably?' Tattoo rasped and his friend nodded. 'I think Freddy's in the area.'

They grinned at each other, hiding the fact that their faces and most of their body parts were on fire. One of them took out his cell phone and waited for the call to get through. 'Hey Freddy, it's Tony here. Are you busy cuz we could really use your help.' He nodded and continued, 'We're in front of the Queer.'

Tony turned to his friend, 'He said he'll be here in five, and he's bringing along a couple of his buddies too.'

His friend laughed, 'A couple to Freddy is more like a few dozen. She'll die, that bitch.'

* * *

Still grumbling under his breath, Max entered the club. She shifted through the throng without much difficulty and headed for the bar. She talked to the barman for a few minutes before she headed outside, sighing as she stepped out of the blaring noise and flashing lights.

However, the barman had mentioned that there was another bar a few miles down the street. 'Maybe your friend is there,' he had suggested, balancing a full tray as he held it out to a waiting waitress. 'The Shack. You can't miss it, they have a huge replica of a trout outside of it. Seems like the owner had a thing for trout,' he rolled his eyes, 'and cherries. There's a cherry in the trout's mouth. Trout and cherries, weird combo.'

Nothing in this world could surprise her anymore so she just thanked him. Without wasting any time, she head towards her waiting bike.

* * *

As he strode into the packed place, people unconsciously shifted out of his way. He just ignored everyone else and sat on an empty stool, and automatically ordered his usual. Instantly, he was immersed in his own world. He barely heard his neighbour's conversation but since they had to shout in order to hear each other over the noise, he did catch a few words here and there.

'Helen left him, did you hear?'

'He's a moron. Have you ever _seen_ Helen?'

'Helen never really approved of his hobby.'

'Approve my ass. I'd kick him out too if he spent the whole day fishing and came back home smelling like fish.'

'Did you see the size of that _thing_ outside?' she sniggered, 'Parker would probably drag it off if he could get away with it. Men and their fish, I don't understand it.'

Her friend laughed, 'Yeah, but that cherry kinda freaked me out a lil bit.'

He groaned and visibly blocked the rest of the conversation as he drowned his glass. He did not come here to hear, or overhear, other people's problems. He had enough of that on his own, thank you very much.

The barman refilled his glass and drifted away, and right that very moment, he was feeling unsettled enough that it radiated and no one dared to approach him. The women gave him quivering glances filled with lust but they stayed away, shivering deliciously from the dangerous vibes he was emitting.

At the center of the club, at a table that was at the heart of the room, a group of people sat together, laughing, talking, and drinking together. In the midst of perfectly groomed men and women, one girl stood out from the rest of the pack. Her shiny platinum blond hair was framing her heart-shaped face in loose curls, making her looked like a little doll.

Her big blue eyes with the curly long lashes fluttered seductively as she leaned forward to speak to one of the men. Her makeup was professionally done, enhancing her already gorgeous features, a rarity in this Post-Pulse world.

Even though she resembled a dainty doll, behind it all, she was a woman who knew exactly what she wanted and she'll do whatever necessary to realize her dreams. Melissa McDermott, or Missy to those close to her, was the epiphany of womanhood to most of the woman in that area. Being the Mayor's only daughter added an extra layer of gloss to her already smooth package.

However, almost all of the population was in the dark about Mayor McDermott's other less than legal activities, his involvement with the Family for example. And because of that, Missy had grown up surrounded by henchmen and bodyguards who catered to her every whim. Nothing scared her and those burly men bent head over backwards in order to please her. She never found anything that she cannot have and she never imagined that she ever will.

As she sat there, flirting with one of the guys, her eyes wandered to the door as one man strode nonchalantly towards the bar. Her eyes drank in the chiseled features, beautifully poetic eyes, gorgeous hair, firm body and athletic gait.

Perfect ten.

Maybe a twelve, even.

And Missy knew that whatever it took, she would have him.

Her heart was racing as he made his way across the crowded room. There was something about him that took her breath away. He was gorgeous, yes without a doubt, but somehow, even though they were separated by over twenty feet, she could sense something about him. It was like he was strictly unattainable, physically and emotionally and to Missy, there was nothing more alluring than something you cannot have.

It made the chase much more exciting and interesting and as she drew out her compact to inspect her makeup, she was already contemplating victory. She patted some powder on her nose, applied a bit of her favorite lipstick and stood.

* * *

He signaled for his fifth drink and the barman filled his glass without question. He ran a finger on the rim, where a few drops were clinging to the side of the glass. As he was about to lift the glass to his lips, he felt a light touch on his shoulder. He turned, resentment bubbling at the one who dared to pry him from his drink and he saw a beautifully made blond girl standing by his side. She was more than beautiful, but for some reason, he wasn't impressed.

She was wearing baby blue halter neck that showed off tanned shoulders that gleamed under the lights. His eyes traveled downwards without interest. Her shapely legs were encased in soft leather pant that hugged her lovingly from the hips down. Her painted red nails peeped from her strappy heels and he faked a yawn. Damn, he did _not_ have time for this.

'Hi, I'm Missy. Is this your first time here?' she asked in a bubbly voice, looking very much like an excited teenager.

'Yeah, and I'm not good with strangers,' he turned his back on her, giving the glass in front of him his full attention.

As if by magic, or maybe the look she gave the former occupant, the seat next to him was suddenly empty. She sat down, beaming her delight. 'We won't be strangers for long, I can promise you that,' she fluttered her lashes. The action was lost on him as he finished his drink in one go.

'One more of this, please,' he called out to the barman who instantly appeared in front of them.

'Is something wrong? Is that why you're drinking too much?' She set her face to be sympathetic and leaned towards him, exposing a good amount of cleavage to his eyes.

He ignored her and drowned the shot. The barman had left the bottle next to his glass and he filled his glass moodily.

'Come on, baby. You can talk to Missy,' she crooned, and he turned his eyes on her. She saw the gleaming green eyes and shivered with desire.

'What can I talk to you about…Missy?'

'Oh, everything. I'm a very good listener. And it's better to talk than to drown yourself in a bottle. What's the fun in getting drunk? Come on baby, let's hear your problems.'

'And you think I'm drunk?'

The words, _you almost drink the whole bottle_ nearly leapt to her lips but she saw his alert eyes and knew. He was nowhere _near_ being drunk.

'Listen lil Missy. I'm not interested in doing anything right now. I'm not interested in talking to anybody right now. I have no interest in flirting with you, kissing you, or sleeping with you. All I want is to finish this drink, is that okay?'

As he was talking, her hand slipped into her purse and when it reappeared, she was clutching something.

'Okay,' she smiled agreeably, 'let me pour you this one.'

Before he could say anything, she poured his drink and two little white pills clinked noiselessly into it, vanishing almost instantly.

'Yeah, thanks.'

Missy smiled, pleased with herself as she watched the drink disappear within seconds. That pill should work almost immediately; she smiled and moved closer to him.

'You never did tell me your name.' She caressed his neck with her fingertips. Leaning her face closer to him, she sighed, much like after a predator who had captured her prey, and he turned to face her. She gasped as she faced his chilling green eyes.

'It was possibly cute five sentences ago but now it's getting damn annoying.'

She ignored him and pressed herself even closer to him as she nibbled his lobes. 'If you're nice to Missy, she'll be even nicer to you.'

'Stop.'

That one word carried the weight of authority even as he barely whispered it. Also, the chilling disgust doused her like freezing water and she leapt back as if she was stung.

_Why is he behaving this way? Shouldn't the pill start working by now? He should be so high, he won't believe his head._

'Get out of my sight, right now.'

'Who do you think you are?' she glared, giving his shoulder a hard push. 'You have no idea who I am.'

Her hand didn't get the opportunity to make contact with his body as he held her fist in a vice-like grip.

' _You_ have no idea who _I_ am,' he said slowly and somehow she felt goose bumps breaking out all over her skin.

'Let go of me,' she hissed, tugging her hand away.

He pushed her hand away and turned his back on her. Missy felt her blood rushed furiously to her head.

 _How dare he!_ She turned her head towards her table and within seconds, six burly men were by her side. They leered at him, clearly thought that they had him outnumbered, whether in number or in muscle. The lean young man didn't look like he was able to swat a mosquito, let alone fight even one of them.

'What's wrong Missy? Is he giving you trouble?'

'If you did your job and baby-sat her properly, she wouldn't be giving _me_ any trouble,' he said flatly before finishing his drink.

 _That little son of a bitch._ They bristled, closing in on him.

'If you want me to rearrange your face, come on. But, I don't want you running back to your mummy, crying your eyes out after you see yourself in the mirror.'

The fire in their eyes flashed hotter at the barb-wire remarks. One of them cracked his knuckles noisily. He made a move to grab his collar but his intended victim was quicker. He jumped onto the counter, swiped his foot and smashed the man's nose with the heel of his black boot and blood sprayed everywhere.

'Anyone want a dose of that?' he wiped the blood from his face with the back of his hand.

The remaining five snarled and jumped in. He grabbed one by the neck and slammed the head into another man but one managed to grab hold of him from behind, pinning his hand by his side. Tugging them away was fruitless as his captor's muscles swelled and rippled in the effort to hold him in his place.

He slammed his hard heel into the man's knee and used the momentum to flip over the man's head. He landed on his feet and the fire in the hazel eyes burned even brighter, making the orbs darker… nastier.

They rushed in towards him and he elbowed the one who got to him first before bringing his fist up to make a hard contact with the soon-to-be broken nose. The burly man yelled out in pain and clutched his nose, blood spurting out from between his fingers.

His friends didn't even spare him a glance as they closed rank, and cornered their prey, their previous pain buried and forgotten. They all had devious grin on their faces, delighted that the fight was ending to their advantage.

Or so they thought.

One of the heavily built men rolled his head slowly, loosening his taut muscles as he gazed at his hazel eyed opponent. He saw the lean build and made the early assumption that he was an easy target.

He had no idea how wrong he was because looks can be very deceiving indeed.

As they all stalked him into a corner, he felt the forgotten excitement sneaking up on him and he could actually feel his x-series part kicking in. It was like when he was 494, and he started thinking as one. And his body remembered it as well.

All this time he was unknowingly and unconsciously pushing his Manticore side away, feeling somewhat ill at ease at choosing one half of himself when he still couldn't figure out what the other half was, so to speak. He was pretty satisfied in being impartial and neutral in this matter and had pushed both sides away, unseen.

But now, he smiled in satisfaction and readied his muscles for the battle ahead. They won't survive this, not against a fully functional genetically engineered super soldier who wanted nothing but to create a new piece of art from your body mass.

The men saw a different gleam that lightened their opponent's eyes but they marched on ahead, unafraid of what they had glimpsed. When they were all a few feet away, two of them charged, fists pulled back as they readied to pound him into a pulp.

He grabbed one fist that had came flying towards him and snapped the hand backwards as the owner of that hand screamed in delirious pain. Without waiting for the others to charge, he dashed towards them, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

 

**Chapter 4: Red, Fire, Heat and Flame**

 

* * *

With a sigh, Max stepped out of the door. She wiped the sweat from her brow, grumbling under her breath at the lack of air circulation or whatever that contributed to the raising heat.

You _cannot_ pack a room full of people and not expect the need to lower the temperature a few degrees.

'What a cheapskate,' she muttered, feeling the tendrils of sweat sliding languidly down her neck.

The night air blew a cool breeze her way but for some reason, she was still feeling hot and restless. She lifted her heavy hair from her neck, exposing it to the comforting cold air as she made her way to her bike. Before she could take another step, a group of men suddenly surrounded her, making her stop dead in her tracks.

'Hey, what's up?' she smiled, but her muscles tensed unwittingly.

'Remember me?' Tattooed-arm emerged from behind the men, grinning foolishly.

Before Max could even rolled her eyes in response, his gap-toothed friend interrupted, 'And me.'

'Didn't I just knock you two senseless ten minutes ago?'

'We were feeling gentlemanly then. Let's see if you can handle us now. All of us.'

'Look, I'm in the middle of something and I really don't have the time to play with all of you now. Sorry guys.' She made it as if she was leaving and they took a step forward, closing ranks on her.

The word _great_ hadn't even left her lips yet when they surged forward, all at once. She grabbed one guy by the neck, wrapping her arms and squeezing tightly as he gasped for breath. As she did so, she tried to fend off a couple of guys by kicking one man right on the ribs, winding him instantly.

He crashed into two more men, groaning at his broken rib. At that very second on her right, another man rushed, hoisting an iron bat in her direction. Max pushed her captive man towards the man with the bat and the one second he took to avoid his flailing ally was the one she needed to kick the bat from his hand.

The bat cluttered noisily but before anyone could dive in to seize possession of it, Max cried out as an iron bar hit her just above her left elbow. She didn't see that one coming.

She turned, and a flash later, the man with the bar was now lying unconscious on the ground. Her eyes darted wildly around, assessing the current situation but she failed to observe that her old buddy tattooed-hand Tony was taking out something that glinted threateningly from his knee length boot.

Max was busy fending off a few of the men to notice anything fishy. She has just planted a nice kick on one man's chest when someone fired a round of shots. Panting, she stood still, to see that the one left standing was holding a gun, the smoking end was trained eerily to her head.

Her heel lifted a fraction of an inch as she readied herself to blur in his direction and in her preoccupation, she failed to realize that Tony was not in front of her anymore. Her vision was bombarded with an explosion of lights.

Tony had snuck in from behind and presented a very juicy punch in the jaw. And before the firework display even ended, her nerves were assaulted by something else. She turned her head hazily and saw the black hilt of a knife that Tony had planted just below her ribcage.

'Good work, Tony.'

'We do work well together, Freddy. We should do this more often, dude.' Tony grinned.

Max pulled the knife quickly, groaning as blood sprayed out from the wound. She took a quick sip of air before flicking the knife towards the smirking Freddy. He toppled down after the knife had plunged itself above the collar bone. The arterial spray added a reddish background as the dead man's fingers twitched, emptying the gun erratically.

Tony watched, horrified at this turn of events. Most of his buddies were lying on the ground haphazardly, either dead or fainted. He took a step back, suddenly terrified.

Max blurred, brought up her elbow to his temple with a loud crack and he crumbled, mouth askew. Max fell down on her knees, her head swimming as her fingers felt the gushing wound. It was not too bad but she didn't have the time to stitch it up now.

Groaning, she pushed one hand hard against the right side of her abs as she struggled painfully out of her jacket. Using her nails and teeth, she ripped the lining off before wrapping it tightly over the wound.

Painful gasps hissed from between her clenched teeth as she tightened her makeshift bandage. She sat still among the fallen men for the next couple of minutes, waiting until her heartbeat slowed down and the pain had dimmed somewhat.

After she judged the pain as bearable, she struggled to her feet before putting her ripped jacket back on with a degree of difficulty, hiding the wound from view. She staggered to her bike and after she wiped the sweat and drops of blood off her face, the bike roared to her next destination.

An unnaturally high shriek filled the air as someone tossed a large bowl and it didn't smash where it was suppose to. At one area of the room, one man was cornered by Missy's loyal men. He took another step back and felt the wall's hard surface with the heel of his boot and that made him stop.

Around them, chaos erupted throughout the room, where everyone was dashing out of the men's reach. They knew who those men worked for and deep in their guts, they were glad that they were not in that lone man's shoes.

At the bar, a man with red hair and full beard was busy grabbing his prized bottles from the rack behind him, stashing those away.

Out of sight, out of danger's reach.

From somewhere, Missy took a step forward, her fair hair gleaming under the lights, and she smiled in approval. He leaned back, one hand wiped the blood from the corner of his lips while the other reached behind him, unseen as he tried to find something… anything to his advantage.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw that she was coming towards him. He blinked as the vision wavered. A beat passed and he shook his head, hard, and he could see that Missy was near, only a few steps away.

His fingers found some sort of tray that was built right into the wall and after a few experimentally pushes, he concluded that the tray-like ensemble can move. He was just about to rip it from the wall when a wave of vertigo assaulted his senses.

Breathing hard, he leaned his body against the wall, giving his suddenly trembling legs some sort of support. Bright lights flashed over his eyes and again, he shook his head hard, as if he could shake the dizziness off with the gesture.

_What the hell…?_

Seeing their opponent's sudden hesitancy, one of them let out a short laugh. They didn't need to see Missy's gleeful agreement of the situation as they closed in on him.

The air whizzed past the small frame as the black ninja streaked past the deserted road, a tail of fumes and smoke in its wake. The stretch of road was mostly deserted, throughout the short journey she had yet to meet other people but that was not a big problem in her mind. Her sharp eyes caught sight of a flicker of light just above the horizon and she sped her bike towards it.

Within minutes, her previous solitary journey ended, people were passing by her by the throng. A small hiss sneaked past her lips as her jacket shifted and rubbed against the makeshift bandage. She shifted her position slowly in response and before she could do anything else, something big and monstrous suddenly appeared in front of her vision.

The famed trout… and it's cherry.

The ensemble statue was so huge it undoubtedly cast its shadow over to the building next to it. However, since it was nearly dark, there was no shadow involved. But the bright lights emitted a festive light over the huge fish and the dancing beams bounced merrily over the trout.

Max felt her eyebrows rise on their own accord at the rainbow fusion of lights that were playing over the statue and the rowdy crowd underneath it.

She saw the heavy crowd and sighed. The sight of the huge mass of moving bodies started to feel unbearably hot to her and as if agreeing with her thoughts, she could feel the river of sweat sliding down her back. Max scraped the heavy hair from her sweaty neck and quickly tied her hair up, sighing as the breeze brushed against her heated skin.

She ran her fingers over her face and took another look at the heavy crowd. She had a quick impulse of just leaving, but something held her back. Feeling restless, she tried to blow off the hair that was stuck on her sweaty forehead and grumbled as they refused to budge.

Max jumped from the bike and gritted her teeth against the sudden surge of pain.

'God, I forgot about that.' Her fingers clutched over the crude bandage, breathing heavily. She swiped the drops of sweat from her forehead and took another deep breath. She'll drag herself to bed after she was done with this place.

Walking quickly into 'The Shack', she groaned at the rising temperature. She took one step in and stopped dead in her tracks.

A full bar fight was happening right in front of her. People were running and screaming hysterically all around her. Max blew out an annoyed breath at the insanity of some people and shook her head. Her heel lifted half an inch as she turned around; there was no way she'd get herself involved in this god-only-knows-why fight. She can only put her nose in so many things already. And what had she got for it? A knife stuck on her side. So, yeah, thanks for the pain, dude.

Still grumbling under her breath, Max turned on her heel, one hand already pushing the door behind her when something stopped her, again. She blinked, disconcerted and slowly she turned her head around, the end of her ponytail smacking against her clammy nape. She stopped breathing as she eyed the chaotic room, trying hard to pinpoint the source of her preoccupation.

Her wide eyes stumbled across people running left and right, and suddenly she seemed immune to the sudden loud crashes that reverberated all over the room and the scream that was teetering over insane decibels. Sound ceased to exist for her except for her rapid labored breathing. The sound bounced erratically around her heavy head.

The hand that was still on the door behind her tightened as her eyes slide over strangers and mayhem.

What? What was it?

And for some unknown reason, the crowd shifted for a minute and from the sudden gap she saw something…

Or rather, some _one_.

Someone that sent an immediate punch to her heart.

Him.

Alec.

Even with the distance between them, she could see the blaze in his eyes, glazed with something she had never seen before. And before she could even force in some air inside her flaming lungs, the crowd moved again, and he disappeared from her view.

A half cry and half moan erupted from her dry throat as she took an unconscious step forward and before another thought could form, she was running forwards, pushing bodies away… rushing towards him.

His breathing was coming in rapid succession, while sweat was glistening on his skin, sliding slowly down with the pull of gravity. His vision swam… again, and he shook his head in frustration.

What the hell was going on? From the corner of his eyes, he saw a glint of gold and turned his head towards it, attracted by the lightness of it. Even though in his state, he could see the satisfied smile lurking over the full lips of Missy and something sank in.

' _Listen lil Missy. I'm not interested in doing anything right now. I'm not interested in talking to anybody right now. I have no interest to flirt with you, to kiss you or to sleep with you. All I want is to finish this drink, is that okay?'_

_As he was talking, her hand slipped into her purse and when it reappeared, she was clutching something._

' _Okay,' she smiled agreeably, 'let me pour you this one.'_

_Before he could say anything, she poured his drink and two little white pills clinked noiselessly into it, vanishing almost instantly._

She must've put something in his drink, there was no other explanation. Having no time and no energy to berate himself for letting something slip past his guard, he forced his sluggish unresponsive body to move. He had to get past Missy's boys if he wanted to leave with his limbs intact.

Suppose to be a breeze for him but thanks to a certain blondie, may she rot in hell, it was near impossible to even stand, let alone coming up with a plan. He breath heavily, eyes darting wildly for something… anything, and they jumped towards him.

He blocked one fist with his arm, forcing his heavy hand to move because survival was something as instinctive as breathing. Manticore did take care of its soldiers in a way. He grabbed the hand before twisting it the wrong way up.

Before he could even turn his head, pain roared angrily as a sturdy former chair made a very intimate encounter with his ribs. He fell to his knees; one shaky hand was the only thing between him and the cold dirty floor. Sweat pooled around his trembling palm and he lifted his blurry eyes towards his attackers.

_This is it, I'm done for._

In the distance, he imagined he saw a dark haired girl running towards him. One thought blazed through the fog clouding his mind.

_Help me… Max._

He's bleeding.

He's down.

He's cornered.

Those thoughts darted wildly through her head in a rapid succession as she blurred over to his side. She pushed and shoved bodies that got between her and him, not hearing and certainly not caring about the scream and the crash that followed. She had her eyes trained on one place and no force on this earth was able to stop her from being there.

Max grabbed one of The Rock look-alikes and pulled him towards her. She relished in his bewildered look at the sudden movement and the next second her fist had reassembled his jaw line. Eyes gleaming, she pushed him away, not caring about the sweat dripping down her own jaw.

Sensing a new threat, the remaining guys turned their attention from the fallen man on the floor to face her.

'What do we have here?' one them sneered as his shaven head gleamed under the lights, obviously overlooking how one of them was out cold, lying just a few feet away.

'Pretty,' smirked another, his gold tooth twinkled in between his split lips. 'Our new toy for tonight?'

'Ooh, I do love muscles on my man, but too bad. You all look like you just smashed your face on the nearest wall. Did it just happen or you're born like this? Sorry, you're not my type, baby.' Her smile was as chilly as a frozen lake.

She walked towards the muscles, noticing from the corner of her eyes that one man was huddled under the bar, clutching two bottles protectively against his chest, his red hair was sticking up all over the place, his frightened eyes wide in his pale face.

Behind the muscled men, she saw glimpses of _him_ , moving in and out of her vision. That enraged her even more, to the point that rational thoughts left her and she moved with nothing but pure instinct to guide her.

Ignoring the muffled moan behind her, she grabbed baldie by the collar, bent her knees and tossed him behind her. That guy hadn't even hit the floor yet when she blurred to another, blocked his right fist, danced out of his reach before flinging herself backwards, over a few heads, out of his reach towards the slumped body in the corner.

She ran the back of her hand slowly over her lips, wiping away blood and sweat, unconsciously shielding Alec from the enemy with her own body. In the distance, she saw one blonde girl yelling herself hoarse at the men to get their act together and in reaction, she planted herself more firmly in front of him.

As she took a deep breath, Missy's scattered and fallen boys had picked themselves up and regrouped, closing in on them angrily.

They were pissed. They were mad and they were itching to get a piece of her.

And that was just fine and dandy with her.

The one nearest to her spit out blood from his cracked lips and laughed, cracking his knuckles menacingly as he glared at her. His gold tooth was stained with blood. She acknowledged the invitation and went to him first.

Ruthlessly, she aimed for his ribs with her boots but she miscalculated his reaction to pain. He lashed out, and his elbow smashed just below her ribcage, right over her wound and she screamed, almost blacking out in pain.

Max stumbled backwards, one hand grabbing her blood soaked midriff. With the instinct of hunters, they all saw the opening and tried to join in the fun. She knew she had to bail out, or both of them are gonna end up dead, or worse.

She looked around, her wide eyes darted wildly, trying to find something… anything. Her eyes widened even more when she spied something that was almost hidden behind shelves full of bottles lining the wall.

The fuse box.

Now or never, she thought and grabbed a large bowl before tossing it towards the men before she jumped on top of the bar. She grabbed one bottle from the shelf and quickly scanned the label.

_The Balvenie Cask 191_ _by_ _William Grant & Sons_

_Speyside_ _single malt_ _Scotch_ _whisky_

Max tossed it aside and grabbed another, ignoring the barman's cry of horror as the bottle smashed on the floor. He was pulling at his red hair in terror at the state of his bar.

 _No, not this one either. I need rum_ , she thought desperately and jumped to the floor, scanning the bottles on the lower shelves.

What most people don't know was that whisky, even a vintage like The Balvenie, when tossed on something does nothing except for being sticky and leaving a hell of a stain. While rum has a more volatile reaction… it's flammable.

And then she saw it. The second shelf from the floor. Bottles and more bottles of rum. She reached up and tore the black fuse box open, exposing all the multicolored live wires.

Then she grabbed two bottles of rum for good measure and then she saw the bartender's mouth and eyes had turned to huge O's of fear as he realized what she was going to do.

Ignoring his shout, she threw the two bottles of rum over the exposed wires and voila, chemistry 101.

Without wasting time, Max threw herself over the bar, grabbed Alec and draped herself over him, protecting him from the mini-explosion above them.

The very instant the alcohol touched the live and exposed wires, sparks erupted that ended in a huge ball of fire.

After the fiery burst of lights, came the total darkness before hot flame started licking its way across the room. The screams turned a couple of notches higher on the pitch scale. Max peeled herself from the feebly stirring body underneath her, grabbed him under the arm and hauled him up, ignoring the screaming pain on her side.

'Come on Alec, we have to go. Are you with me?'

'Yeah,' he mumbled.

She avoided Missy's men who were still unconscious, knocked out by the explosion. Aided by her night vision, she dragged him to the door. Both of them trudged as fast as humanly possible, half stumbling in the smoke and fire as she tried to haul his almost lifeless body.

All around them, most people had staggered out of the place and there was only a handful left as they scurried to find a way out, screaming and yelling in the panic.

Max almost broke down and cried as she saw the huge trout-tossing-cherry statue, so glad that they had made it outside. However, in her mind, only one thought kept repeating itself in her head like a broken record.

Run. Take him. Run. Take him. Run!

She clenched her jaw as she manhandled him towards her waiting bike. With a lot of difficulty, eyes full of fear and determination, she managed to prop him somewhat awkwardly behind her. Immediately, he slumped forward, his head resting on her shoulder and instinctively she tugged his hands around her, trying to keep him on the bike.

With her heart fluttering fiercely in her throat, she sped off into the darkness.

::

Long stretches of colour.

Big splotches of contrasting hues.

Almost invisible shadows sneaking through the bold colours.

Wide chocolate eyes that pulled him towards it.

He felt disembodied… floating… as if he was in some sort of Manticore-like experiments they concocted on a whim. The only thing that was rooting him to reality was the glittering brown eyes and the beautiful scent that his muddled brain pulled from his scratchy memory. He remembered his last thought before he finally succumbed to the irresistible pull of the drug.

_Help me… Max._

Max.

He dragged himself from the tug with willpower he didn't know he possessed and his suddenly painful throat told him he had somehow stopped breathing for a while but that was insignificant.

Max.

Max with the gorgeous brown eyes that haunted his dreams. Now he knew her name. He remembered that sudden moment of clarity, watching those dark eyes turned black in anger before she came rushing towards him and he knew for some unknown reason, she was there because of him.

Then the blurry limbs as she fought past the boys in black. His breathing had sounded unnaturally loud in his ears as he forced himself to stand.

The comforting heat when she pressed herself over him as another terrifying wave of fire erupted above them. Her small trembling hands as they ran over his head and torso. Her fear that was coming off her in great waves even as she dragged him out of the burning place.

Huge maroon splotches that stained the blazing orange background. At that moment, he was almost ready to give in to the persistent pull of the nearing cloud, but her red hot fear kept him rooted to her for some unknown reason.

Cool blue breeze that whispered over them as they raced to safety. He remembered feeling safe with her in his arms, her dark hair fluttering crazily over his cheeks. He must've passed out at some point because when he opened his eyes again, they were surrounded by trees. Huge tall trees framed the road on both sides, the black shadows weaving softly through the darkened night.

Her surge of relief splashed to him as her bike screeched to a stop in front of a deserted house, the windows hanging crazily from its hinge, flapping slightly in the breeze.

Together, they stumbled towards the door, and once inside, she dropped him into a dusty chair. He forced his eyes to open and the first thing he saw was her in front of the window, trying without much success to close it.

He shook his drowsy head, trying to clear the cobwebs that clung stubbornly in his mind. He forced his sluggish brain to form some sort of thought, preferably a coherent one. He took a deep breath and stood unsteadily. He could see a table and a door leading to another room.

'I need to talk to you,' he rasped.

Max turned, startled by his voice. 'You're ok,' she smiled hesitantly as she eyed him warily. The sting from their last conversation at the hospital hadn't quite healed, even now.

His response was to stare at her silently, running his gaze over her, trying hard to organize his thoughts. There was something about her…

Max squirmed under his gaze and forced a chuckle. 'Being on the road for so long, I thought you'd improve on your hand-to-hand. You still need a girl to bail you out, huh?'

The end of his lips turned into an unconscious smirk. 'At least I don't fight dirty, like you.'

'We do what we have to do to survive,' she shrugged but a second later she stiffened. 'You remember… Do you remember everything? Me?' She stare at him, hope blossomed wildly.

'No. But you look like you fight dirty,' he replied dryly.

'Oh.' Her shoulders slumped in defeat.

'So do you?'

'Do what?'

'Fight dirty?'

'Don't we all?'

Both of them were silent for a while.

'What did you do to make them so mad at you?' she took another stab at it. 'You're trying to sell them illegal stuff or what?'

'Some girl didn't like it when I said no.'

'A girl?' She bristled immediately. 'What are you doing, fooling around with a girl?' When he didn't answer, she took a step forward irritably, fire in her eyes. 'How could you? Just because you didn't remember, doesn't mean you can hit on every available girl you see.'

He continued to study her in silence, frowning at something he couldn't quite put his finger on. In a daze, he took several steps towards her.

And Max, seeing that, stopped moving, her heart started racing all of a sudden at the peculiar light in his eyes. 'What… What are you doing?'

The air crinkled uneasily as Alec stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes sharpened instantaneously but a beat later, those hazel eyes were tinted with a whole new sheen. The tip of his tongue flicked out at the corner of his lips to taste the air, an unconscious reaction as he studied the girl in front of him. He took one measured breath and the exotic scent of her bombarded his brain and he almost took a step back because of it.

Almost… but that didn't happen. The violent urge was to go _towards_ her, to be as near to her as possible and distance was something unthinkable at a time like this. Slowly, he scrutinized her as his heart pumped the scent of her all over his body until he felt he was one with her.

He saw the rosy blush that tainted her cheeks, the drops of perspiration that clung to her creamy skin, the quick intake of breath, the rapid fluttering of her chest, the wild-eyed look in her eyes… and he growled inwardly that she was harboring thoughts of fleeing. No, that was absolutely out of the question.

'Alec, please…' Max stuttered, frightened to the core at his sudden changes. No, that was only part the truth. Half of her was scared, yes, but the other half clearly was basking in his heated glances. 'No, Alec. Don't come any closer. I don't know what's gotten into you but we'll…'

'Nothing's gotten into me,' he interrupted and that smile sent shivers running up and down her spine in a frantic dance.

'No, seriously,' she croaked as she stumbled a step back. Because of the way he was looking at her, she learnt that even an instinctive act like breathing can be quite hard. 'I mean it! Don't you dare take another step!'

He just cocked his head in response to her hysterical words. Max desperately took it as a good thing and sipped cautiously at the thinning air. Her heart was beating so fast, her head was dizzy from the rush of blood and her fingers sought blindly for a steady place to hold on to. Her trembling hand found a sturdy shelf and she grasped it as it was her lifeline.

Without blinking, he continued to study her terrified retreat as the need to close the gap between them grew exponentially. His fingers twitched to feel that silky smooth dark hair as much as he yearned to feel those sweet lips of hers. At this moment, she had never looked as ravishing… or delectably delicious.

'Max,' he smiled and took a step forward. Never breaking the eye contact, his steps were slow but decisive.

As she stared into the twirling pool of emeralds, her resolve wavered considerably and the husky tone of his voice continued to hammer at her fragile and crumbling determination.

'Max.'

That one syllable, the sound of her name on his lips, to hear it in his voice; that was one of the reasons she went to look for him. Her heart broke sweetly and she smiled as one foot lifted towards him but a beat later she froze. No, something wasn't right.

The heat of passion was apparent in his eyes. Hell, she was burning with desire just to watch him look at her. Her heart stopped for a few horrifying seconds. Yes, she could feel the desire to feel him, to touch him, to run her fingers all over him just lurking beneath her heated skin. The fine hair at the back of her neck prickled uncomfortably and her eyes widened in horror.

Heat.

She tried to shift her weight around in an attempt to gain some distance between them, to clear her head so she could think better but she was a tad too late. He already had his arms around her to block her attempts to flee.

'No sweetheart, you know you don't want to do that.'

'Alec, please,' she pleaded, wide eyed, 'You have no idea what's happening. This isn't the real you.'

He ignored her frantic appeal as his hungry eyes roved over her face. His fingers pushed some stray strands away and the gesture rekindled her faint embers.

Max knew she was still in the early stages of heat, hence the ability to analyze the situation, although sluggishly.

'Alec, please… You don't want this.'

She could see the fire blazing heatedly in his eyes and she knew without a doubt that she was the reason for that. That alone would be enough of a reason for her to kiss him senseless, but not in this particular situation. She could tell without hesitation that after her heat was over, the feelings they both had might not be mutual. _His_ feelings might not mirror hers.

And that hurt enough for her to push him away today.

The fingers that were playing with her hair stopped at her last sentence. 'On the contrary, my love,' he leaned forward and whispered against her flushed skin as he nuzzled her ear. 'I want this… so bad. And so do you. I know you do.'

Her breath stuck painfully in her chest and she closed her eyes as his warm breath caressed her skin.

'No!' she gasped, trying to push him further from her, 'I can't let you do this. I won't!'

'I'll let you do all the work,' he smirked and Max almost groaned at how devilishly good he looked at the moment. How very Alec of him. Almost, but not quite.

She growled instead. 'Alec, you're not listening.' She mustered up the remaining of her fleeing sensibilities and tried to reason with him again. Apparently, he was really not listening because he started nibbling his way up her neck.

'Alec!' she yelped, almost jolted out of her skin at the hot rush of pleasure his touch had ignited. She forced her hands to push his chest away, her palms firmly placed over his torso.

'I'm in heat,' she declared breathlessly, pinning the hazel eyes with her brown ones. 'That's the only reason you're acting like this.' _Okay, if this didn't work, maybe I'll knock him on the head or something._

Max's eyes roved wildly over his shoulder for something to knock on his head and she missed the brief glint. And she also forgot she still had her hands on him.

'Really? No, I don't have any problem with that.'

'Right now you won't,' she retorted back. 'Wait till my heat's over, I bet you'll be saying something else.'

'I doubt it,' he put his hands on her hips and slowly he slide one hand upwards. His movement was so slow and so tender, she almost didn't feel it. But when he spread his long fingers over her ribcage, she gasped and she couldn't do anything but moan when he caressed one particular spot with one thumb.

'Alec, stop…'

He ignored her breathless plea and placed his other hand at the back of her neck before pulling her towards him so their two bodies were almost fused together from chest to hips. His warm breath whispered tantalizingly over her exposed skin and she shuddered with anticipation. All prior thoughts dispersed from her brain, leaving her blessedly void of thought.

'No Alec, don't do this. Please,' she whispered, trying to wriggle free from his hold.

His reaction was to tighten his arms around her, backing her into the near wall, muffling her protest when he crashed his lips into hers.

The moment their two lips met, the rest of the world shimmered behind a veil of black velvet before it disappeared from view, leaving only the two of them in its center stage. Time stood still, watching the two with curious eyes.

Even as her heart was screaming for the future heartbreak, her body was turning a deaf ear. Without her heart's consent, her fingers fisted themselves in his jacket while her lips tasted the flavor of his eagerly. Max didn't realize a lone tear was sliding down her cheek, as his hard body pushed her against the wall.

His agile fingers were stroking her to oblivion and now she wouldn't want it any other way. The force of her heat was coming in stronger now and she wrapped her arms around him and pulled his head lower towards her waiting lips.

When he felt her wet cheeks, he pulled back, startled. Frowning, he wiped it slowly.

Max closed her eyes at the gesture, breathing deeply. The inner war that was raging earlier was over. Her body with her damned feline DNA had won and her heart trembled at the coming events. But as she opened her eyes and faced him, none of it was visible on her face. The hands that were on him tugged him closer, nearer to her.

'Who am I?' she whispered, her lips a mere breath away.

'Max,' he murmured, his eyes were turning dark in passion.

'Tell me again.'

'Max,' he kissed her, hard, bruising her lips. 'Max.. You're mine.'

::

The man at the counter yawned widely, rubbing his tired eyes. At the end of the room, a girl rolled her eyes. 'Hey Pete. If a girl walks in and sees you do that, she'll run in the opposite direction faster than you can say oops, baby.'

The moment she finished her sentence, the door jingled and Peter closed his mouth with a snap. He turned himself towards the door instantly and smiled. When he saw that his new customers were two men in black suits, his face fell instantly.

Pete thought he heard a muffled giggle from Penny's direction and he glared at that insufferable sister of his. He narrowed his eyes at her and Penny turned to the storeroom, laughing all the way. He huffed and turned around, almost jumping out of his skin. The two men in front of him stared silently.

Peter forced a smile. 'Yeah, what can I do for you guys today?'

'We're looking for a man,' one of them said.

For some reason, Peter could feel something crawl uneasily all over his skin. 'A man? We have a lot of those coming through.'

'We're not here for jokes,' the other growled and Peter shifted uncomfortably.

'Have you seen someone like this around here?' He pulled a picture from the inside of his jacket and held it up for Peter to see.

Peter stared at the picture and frowned. For some reason, he recalled the hot girl who was also trying to find a man. He glanced at the picture again and his gut feeling told him those two were the same person. He turned to the two waiting men and something crawled up his spine. There was something not quite right about those two.

'No, never seen him before.'

'Are you sure? Take another good look at the picture again.'

'Do you think I sit on my ass all day with my eyes closed, huh? If I say I never saw this dude before, that means he was never here.' Peter glared, hoping these two won't see past his bluff.

They were both quiet for a few minutes before they turned without a word and left.

Inside the store, Peter took a deep breath of relief. His eyes followed the two men. He seemed to remember that Penny had told the hot brunette the guy she was looking for had headed east.

Their store was actually at the junction of the main road before the road forked into two, one going to the east and the other going to the west. As he watched their black car glide down the street, he suddenly prayed that the car wouldn't turn east.

_The other way. Go the other way._

For some odd reason, his heart sank when it turned east.

 

**Chapter 5: Hot Ice, Cold Fire  
**

* * *

 

_Behind the swirls of stubborn_ _clouds, the sun struggled to penetrate the thick gray layer. The day was heavy with promises of tears, gray fog and rain. The wind picked up speed, howling its annoyance to anyone within hearing as it raced across the trees like a grumpy old man poking his stick at anything in its way._

_From the lightening shadows, a figure stumbled out. His disheveled air_ _was more pronounced by his messy hair. Dirty streaks of brown hair were falling into dilated bloodshot eyes, the black pupil had crowded over leaving only a hint of green around the edges. He was breathing hard, the chest under his jacket moving furiously. He had been running hard by the look of it. His dark jacket hung listlessly on his frame, the ends swishing against his black jeans as his feet padded softly through the grass._

_He stopped by one of the trees_ _and leaned against the rough bark before running his hand through his tousled hair, sweat sliding down his hard jaw before disappearing under his collar. Overhead, the clouds darkened; an ominous warning. His eyes darted upwards, scanning the overcast sky and a sliver of light fell to illuminate his pallid skin. He knew she was close, he could sense it. Running the back of his hand over his eyes, he grunted, before his fingers wandered to the back of his neck, massaging the tense cords._

_His fingers hovered over the wound, the jagged area where her teeth had pierced skin and he hissed. He gingerly touched the area, the stretch where his neck met his shoulder and shuddered. The spot was still tender, still painful and it brought forth images of her pressed tightly against him, of fiery heat, of intense need. He lifted his fingertips; not seeing the blood stained tips and stared dazedly ahead, his thoughts already on a different subject._

_How could he forget her? Her long dark hair_ _falling in soft waves and gentle curls around her shoulders. Her soft smile as she laughed at him. The way she bit her lips as she giggled. Her quick glance, that little twinkle in her eyes. How could he forget everything? How could he not remember her?_

_He straightened; resolved hardening his features and he started to walk. He'll make it right. He owed it to her._

::

'Who am I?' she whispered, her lips a mere breath away.

'Max,' he murmured, his eyes turning dark in passion. One hand tightened in her hair as need reared and demanded to be filled.

'Tell me again.'

'Max,' he kissed her, hard, bruising her lips. 'Max… You're mine.'

Heat was a peculiar thing, pushed forward by the animal side of their genetically engineered DNA. Heat was all about instinct and need. The instinct to mate, to press yourself against a guy; the need to hold him close, to have your skin over, under, and around his. Max had always hated that part of her but she had learned to live with it. Heat always brought out the worst in her, made her jumpy and crazy but it had always passed without anything major happening, leaving her unscathed. She had never been around her own kind before so the possessiveness she was feeling now was new. It was like she was claiming him as hers as she ran her hands over him, leaving behind invisible mark of ownership.

_Yes, mine._

The fire flowed swiftly through her veins, heating her from within. Her eyes glowed as she lifted her head from his. He leaned his head and smiled, all teeth as he waited for her next move.

So she had him pushed against the wall, needing something solid behind them as she rubbed her toes over his calf, her fingers sliding under his shirt, popping his buttons in her haste while her tongue was memorizing the contour of his lips. He was more than happy to comply, his own hand was stroking the smooth heated skin of her back, tugging relentlessly at her top. Her body happily agreed, leaving her panting; the wetness within her increasing, yearning for more.

She shuddered as his warm fingertips glided over her skin, building the fire into a furnace. She pried her eyes open and saw that he was staring, the green of his eyes blazing, a complete contrast to his lazy smile.

Max blinked and the headiness lifted for a second.

_He's not Alec! He's gonna dump you the minute it's over. You don't want_ _that._

_No, he won't_ _. He loves me!_

_He doesn't even remember you._

_It's Alec. He won't hurt me. He wouldn't._

He saw the hesitation in her eyes and anger started bubbling under the red hot lust that she could even think of something…or someone else right now. The smirk was tinged with a hint of feline as he pushed away from the wall and turned, shoving her against the brick wall. The impact sent a wave of intense throbbing, her hand instinctively clutching her wounded side. Under the bandage, a thin line of blood seeped through, running down her hips but the pain vaporized the instant his lips crashed into hers, hot and demanding. He moaned when a flash of memory burst like fireworks in his head.

_The cold feeling of purpose washed over him as he strode inside, his eyes impersonal as they ran across the foyer._

_Suddenly he was in front of another door. For some reason, the black iron Manticore door repulsed him. Or rather, his new mission repulsed him. But he squared his shoulders like any good soldier and waited for the door to open for him._

He staggered back, panting. Her lips trailed after him, fire turning her eyes golden. Her fingers tangled in his hair and she pulled him back to her. 'I want you.'

' _You must be him. I've been waiting for you.' Soft smile lighting her dark eyes as she waited for him, her fingers caressing the shiny surface of the piano._

_Another pair of dark eyes frowned, brow furrowed. She was angry,_ _she was disgusted; he could see how her muscles were all tensed up. 'My what?' For some reason, her reaction amused him. Which prompted him to elaborate and he almost laughed out loud when her eyes widened in repulse, 'Breeding partner? That's sick.'_

The blurry shards of memory fluttered away when she arched towards him. It robbed him of any sane thoughts when her breasts pressed deliciously against his chest. 'I need you.'

' _What the hell was that?!'_ _He was clutching his middle, the shock that someone managed to land a kick on him pushed aside the sting of pain, frowning at her reply, '_ _The only kind of physical contact you and I are gonna have_ _.'_

' _It's fine. Just watch your dynamics_ _.' Something inside him broke as she gave him one of her soft smiles before she dropped her head, focusing on her fingers._

His shoulders bunched when he lifted her higher, pulled her tighter against him. Her head rolled back when he nipped her lower lips, her moans needy when his hips grated against hers. 'Alec… stay with me.'

_He held out a trembling hand to caress the soft satiny skin of her cheek as he whispered gently, 'I won't let him hurt you again, Max, never again.'_

_The light bounced softly in her dark hair as she waded towards him. 'In case you hadn't noticed, I've been sort of throwing myself at you for the past few weeks. Don't you like me?' His response was automatic. 'I like you.' When she leaned in and pressed her lips softly against his, he was stunned. His eyes were wide as he stared at her. 'I like you a lot.'_

He pressed deeper in between her thighs because his knees needed the support, his tongue silken and hot against hers. Her fingers wandered down, feeling a hard wall of muscles under her sensitive fingertips. She stopped for a second when her fingers touched the band of his jeans, tracing the worn denim with the tip of her fingers before slipping inside. All that warm smooth skin waiting for her touch. His breath came out in a hiss, eyes almost closed when her nails lightly scratched his neck, just above his barcode.

_He stopped when he came to a shabby looking door; the paint had peeled off in some places, scratches adorning the dark piece of wood with its abrasive art but none of that mattered to him. He took one deep breath and then he just pushed the door open, stepping over the boundary to the other side. To face the enemy._

' _Okay,' he swallowed hard before plunging ahead. 'I was sent here to kill your father.' The horror and terror in her eyes almost destroyed him. He did that to her but he forced the rest out bitterly. 'It was my job. You were my job.'_

'… _But the naked fear I felt, it made me feel like I was better off dead along with you so that I didn't have to feel anything like that again.' He remembered her words, ringing insistently in his ears as he thrashed between asleep and awake. It bounded constantly against his battered soul and every time it did so, a deep mark was left behind._

' _I love you.' He gulped because of the truth shining from her eyes. She really did love him. And it scared the crap out of him. 'Your hands are shaking.'_

_No… no… he can't let her do that… His head thrashed against his pillow, he was sweating so hard it looked like someone had just poured a bucket of water all over him. '…I was better off dead along with you…' Nooo! He shot up in bed, eyes glazed over and fear imprinted on them._

' _It was my job. You were my job.' She had slapped him and broke into tears before running down the stairs. He reached out to stop her but he can only grab the locket that she always wore. 'Daddy!'_

He pushed away from her, taking gulps of air; his eyes were almost black in his turmoil. 'God… oh god. What have I done?'

::

The barkeep lifted his eyes from the glass he was cleaning, somewhat curious as two men marched close. Men in carefully pressed suits have never been part of his usual clientele. He'd seen a lot but apparently there's a first for everything, if you live long enough. 'What can I do for you fellas today?'

'We need to find someone.'

::

Behind closed eyes, tears burnt hotly, desperate for a way out. She gripped the thin blanket in trembling hands, her whole body shaking. Curling her legs upwards, she forced down the strangled sob. She knew he had left, had felt it the second he lifted himself from her, the instant his feet touched the cold floor, the moment the door slammed behind him.

She would have plastered herself to him, begged him to stay, kissed him so he wouldn't know day from night. Except for one thing.

One word from him. Two syllabus that tore her chest open and sliced her raw heart to pieces. Spoken in a breathless whisper, so soft she would've missed it if it weren't for her transgenic hearing, filled with so much longing and love that her heart stopped beating and died on the spot.

Rachel.

His lips had whispered Rachel, not Max.

Even all this time, he wanted Rachel. He still yearned for her, longed to touch her. She had been a pale replacement for him, and that hurt. Deeply. She would've lashed out, slapped him, shook him into understanding. She's dead, I'm here. Look at me. I'm here and I love you.

But his eyes had a glazed sheen that she had never seen before and he was staring at a point just beyond her shoulder. His lips moved around that damned name.

Rachel.

Max started to know how it felt to hate another human being, wholeheartedly. That was agonizing enough, yes, but then came the part that severed her into bleeding pieces, thrown unnoticed around his feet.

'Rachel… God, I love you. I'm sorry…'

Her death grip on his arm slipped, cold hand sliding down his body and like a mannequin whose stings had been cut, she dropped to the floor. A dejected heap at his feet.

He hadn't even noticed.

She pushed herself to look up at him, eyes burning with the tears she refused to shed. He was still staring dead ahead, reliving a faraway and half buried memory. Forcing her arms to move, she grabbed him and pulled herself up.

No, she will not give up on him. Not now. Not after what had happen.

'Alec,' she had forced her numb fingers to curl over his stiff jaw. 'Alec, look at me.'

Maybe it was the desperation in her hoarse voice or the shaking cold fingers on his face but he complied. He focused on her and she swallowed. He was looking at her but he didn't see her. It was time to fight or die.

'Alec, it's me, Max. Tell me you remember me, please? You have to remem…' His eyes started to stray from hers and she gripped his shirt in desperation. 'Look at me. Dammit Alec, just look at me!'

'What do you want from me?' he roared, 'I don't even know you.'

'No, you're lying!' She whimpered, the wound was clear in her eyes and it slashed at him that he did this to her but without another thought, he tossed it aside. She was no one, he didn't recognize her.

'You know me. Why are you doing this?' she had slumped against him, burning eyes were pressed against his chest. He could feel her small frame shaking. 'It's Max. Alec, please…'

He tore her from him, shaking her shoulders as if trying to force some sense into her. The end of her hair brushed against his arms and he pushed her away from him. 'I don't know you. You might not believe me, but I just know your name, that's all. That's it.'

'You _love_ me. Those words are already deeply engraved in your heart, forgetting them was not possible... that's what you said to me. Don't you remember? You love me!'

'I love _her.'_ the words felt harsh so he turned away from her tear-filled eyes. 'Rachel. I love her and she paid for it.'

She stumbled away from him; her eyes wide with hurt and betrayal. 'Get out.' It came out as a hoarse whisper as she clumsily widened the gap between them. Her fingers touched something dusty but she didn't even care what it was when she hurled it towards him, half blinded by fury and tears. 'Get out! Get away from me.'

The dusty ceramic smashed a few feet behind him but he didn't even flinch, he was looking at the trembling figure hunched against the wall. Her pale face was pinched, her hair was matted down from sweat, black stringy locks hanging crazily, eyes watering but by the look of her clenched lips, she won't be crying any time soon. Something clawed at his frozen heart, his fingers twitched unexpectedly and his heel lifted, eyes trained on her crumpled form. He took one involuntary step towards her before he realized what he was about to do.

No, he had to get to Rachel. The mystery that had haunted him had been lifted. She was the one in his nightmare, the one he had to save. He had to save her from Manticore. It all made sense now. Everything had fallen into place.

Max lifted her glassy eyes the moment he turned and seeing him walking away from her ripped her dying soul into ragged bloody parts. She scrambled up, scraping her knees and palms from the loose stones, urged forward by her fear. She stopped him in his track when she glued herself to him, her cheek pressed against the hard wall of his back, her hands fisted in his shirt. 'Please Alec, don't leave me.' Her whisper was as soft as a butterfly wings, batting its plea against his confused mind.

'I have to go.' The reluctance was there. Max heard it, felt it and she couldn't stop the hope from blooming.

'You're mine. Stay here with me, please.'

'No. my place is with…'

'Stop it,' she screamed, moving jerkily to face him. 'You're making a mistake. You _know_ you're making a mistake. That's not what you're supposed to remember. Look at me.' Under his shirt, her nails left half crescent marks on his skin but he was too preoccupied with the strained hope in her eyes to feel the pain. 'Look me in the eye and tell me you didn't feel a thing.'

His hand lifted as in a daze, framing her pale face. Max leaned into his touch, her fingers entwined with his as slowly her eyes flickered close. Something inside him shattered when her fingers tightened around his. His heart hummed in agreement but his head was screaming something else.

'I don't know what I feel. I…' He pulled his hand abruptly away, shaking his head in bewilderment.

She didn't give him a chance to finish what he was about to say, she didn't want to hear anything else about Ra… that other woman anyway. Max tightened her hold on him, her nails almost breaking skin in her despair and pulled him close. So close that his shallow breath whispered over her chilly skin.

His eyes narrowed at the pain before his pupils dilated; the residual surge of her pheromones hitting his senses. Uncertainty left and was quickly replaced with fire. He forced her to part her lips under his assaulting force and gathered her to him when her body softened, pliant in his embrace.

She closed her eyes and pressed herself to him, for the first time in her life praying hard, hoping fiercely that her Heat could bind him to her for awhile. She didn't know how Heat worked exactly but she was more than hoping it could buy her more time.

She needed to stop him from leaving. To give her enough time to sort out the mistake of his memory. If he remembered Rachel, he was bound to remember her too… sooner or later. She refused to believe otherwise. Max pushed at his shirt with demanding fingers, wanting desperately to feel his skin on hers before tugging frantically at his pants.

She gasped when he broke the kiss, scraping his teeth at the soft skin of her neck, before running his tongue over her jugular. Her jacket were tossed aside before his fingers wormed under her top, his rough fingertips feeding a trail of sparks from his skin to hers. Her legs trembled and her arms tightened itself around him for support.

Her head dropped back, her neck curved away from the wall when his fingers hovered over her heated skin. She could feel his warmth, only a breath away but he was in a playful mood, his fingers just floating over her touch-deprived skin. Her hips thrust towards his hand and her nails buried itself in his shoulder. She did not want to play now.

He laughed, his hand gripping her hips before his knee nudged at her thighs, forcing her to open her legs wider. She ran her fingers through his hair, urging him with the rhythm he had set when her eyes caught his.

Under the red hot fire lapping over the green of his eyes, she saw the turmoil of his confusion pooling underneath. And she knew without a doubt that the second the uncertainty broke through, he'd be gone. Free to find that other girl. From her constricted throat, a low rumbled surfaced, pushed forward by a primal emotion.

Jealousy. Possessive. _He's mine, dammit._

She ran her lips across his jaw, sliding her tongue over the hollow of his throat. She could feel the pleased agreement rumbled from his chest. Suddenly, the image of him walking away drove her to bare her teeth before sinking it into his flesh. _No, you're mine._ The instant her teeth break through his skin, his blood spurted into her mouth and a part of her heard his ragged moan before his knees gave way.

They both tumbled to the floor, the dust swirled around them and the only thing that prevented him from falling back and cracking his skull open was her hold on him. Even then, he hit the ground with a gasp, his eyes rolling in his head when he felt her wet tongue sliding over the bleeding wound.

Max didn't bother to wipe her mouth, his blood still glistening in the corners of her lips. He gasped when she forced her tongue in and he could taste the tang of his own blood. Under the persistent tug of his lips, she smiled, somewhat predatory as she moved to straddle him, rocking herself against his hardness as she did so.

He hissed again when her nails tightened into his slick side.

Her thighs gripped his hips as she moved. The hiss was involuntary, snatched from his throat when he felt her sliding down and his abs muscles tensed as he pushed upwards. She laughed, her head thrown back, hair cascading down as the long line of her exposed neck and her glistening torso drew his eyes and his blood boiled and simmered even hotter.

He swallowed. God, she was beautiful. Like a goddess from another lifetime. His hand traveled from her moving hips to her ribs. She grinned down at him and gripped his hands, peeling them away from her body. Her head dropped to his, smiling when he grunted, his hips demanding more from her. She pushed his hands away from their bodies, trapping his fingers with her own. He resisted but her hold was firm. Her eyes lighten with a possessive new sheen. _Mine._

Her thighs tightened around him as she moved her body excruciatingly over his hardness. The groan rumbled from his chest to hers and her lips slid downwards to his ears. His knee jerked when her teeth sank lightly into the side of his neck, his arms twitching as he tried to break free from her hold.

Max growled, both her thighs and hands gripped him harder than ever. _No, mine._

He was sweating now, as was she as she moved over him, still refusing him the completion he wanted. He arched into her and she finally complied, grunted as he slid into her tight wet warmth. Her eyes fluttered closed as he filled her and when she opened them, he could see something different in its dark depths. She let go of his arms, her fingers trailing to his shoulders.

They rocked into each other, grunting, sweat sliding down slick limbs. His eyes blazed when she ground herself on him, hard. He surged up, his hands on her hips, his lips suddenly on hers. Her legs tightened around him, her heel digging into his back. Her nails dug into his barcode when his teeth scraped over her collarbone.

Her inner walls tightened around him, the same time his teeth sank into the soft swell of her breast, right above her heart. The scream muffled in her throat as she sank into him, boneless. Spent.

He sagged backwards, gathering her closer to him as they snuggled in the afterglow of lovemaking. Her lips wandered to his shoulder, smiling inwardly at the mark she had left behind. Satisfied.

_My mate. Mine._

::

Two men climbed down their nondescript car and stood silently by their vehicle, a twin frown marring their bland faces. They took in the burnt building, a hint of smoke still wafting upwards in the slight breeze.

Their faces remained closed as they surveyed the large trout, still standing firmly beside the ruin. A small movement indicated a shrug from one of them before they strode towards the building.

Burnt down or not, they still had a trail to follow.

Max pulled his arms tighter around her, snuggling deeper into him. Despite the hazy warm glow of their lovemaking, she was cold. She could feel her Heat slowly burning out and the consequences were terrifying. The words she had whispered during their frantic mating came flooding back.

 _I want you. I need_ _you. Stay with me. Stay…_

He had mumbled something back against her throat before she ground her hips against his. But now, inside the cocoon of his warmth, she shivered and pushed herself closer to him. She didn't know and she didn't dare hazard a guess about his reaction if she pushed the question out in the open again.

_Have you ever loved somebody so much_

_It makes you cry_

Now with her rapidly cooling skin pressed against his, her lips pressed against the side of his arms and waited agonizingly for his next move. The moment she knew her Heat was over, she could feel him stiffen and her hold on his arms tighten in retaliation.

_No, please_ _… Stay with me Alec…_

'What… what happened?'

The confusion in his voice left bleeding welts in its wake. She forced herself to look up to him. 'You're mine. You have to remember that.' Her fingers hovered uncertainly over the mark she made earlier. His eyes were cloudy, a haze floating over the golden specks of green.

_Have you ever been in love_

_Been in love so bad_

_You'd do anything to make them understand_

'Oh god, no. Rachel…'

Her muscles stiffened at the last whispered word as his hold on her slackened. That one word robbed her of any reaction as she squeezed her eyes shut in defeat. He'd chosen and it wasn't her.

_Have you ever had someone steal your heart away_

_You'd give anything to make them feel the same_

_Have you ever searched for words to get you in their heart_

That fact stopped her from stopping him from leaving, from screaming to his face that he had made the worst possible mistake ever.

_But you don't know what to say_

_And you don't know where to start_

She knew when he left, had felt it the second he lifted himself from her. The cold rushed in, freezing her to the bone and she shivered.

She realized she had lost him the instant his feet touched the cold floor. The sound of his footsteps was a nail in her coffin. The swish of clothes against skin was a shovel full of dirt thrown over her limp form. But when his steps faltered, she held her breath, hope blooming frantically within. She couldn't make herself turn and look at whatever was swimming in his eyes. She was frozen in her fear and hope.

When his footstep stopped right behind her, she braced herself as she waited for his move. A second later, something landed on her. Instead of his skin, it was something heavy and somewhat scratchy. Max's bruised heart dropped. It was a blanket. She squeezed her eyes tighter as again, his footsteps moved away from her. She had forgotten that she was naked, lying alone on a cold dusty floor. Abandoned and discarded.

She understood that he was gone from her life the moment the door slammed behind him.

_Have you ever found the one_

_You've dreamed of all of your life_

_You'd do just about anything to look into their eyes_

_Have you finally found the one you've given your heart to_

_Only to find that one won't give their heart to you_

At some point she knew he was starting to regain his lost memory. That he had remembered Rachel first and not her was painful but the fact that Rachel came to his life first was probably the reason. But she couldn't push away the little voice that kept on whispering insistently that there was more to it than that.

Maybe… just maybe he only remembered that girl because he genuinely love Rachel more than he loved her.

_Suddenly, she saw that he was smiling; his beautiful full lips were quirked into a full smile. Her lips were trembling and she lowered her lids a bit, trying hard to get herself under control and then she saw it. He was holding out his hand towards her. 'Glad you're finally here,' he grinned down at her, closing his long fingers over hers tightly. 'It sure took you long enough.'_

Painful… but it was possible.

_Even across the room, she could feel his sorrow. It was coming from him in waves that struck a chord in her cynical heart. 'I should've tried harder, Rachel. I should've fought them. I didn't understand. I didn't understand how much I loved you.'_

Terrifying… but it could be true.

They had screwed each other's brains out and he still couldn't get passed her name? What did that mean? That she meant less to him than Rachel, that's what.

His preciously beautiful, innocently fragile girl.

If she was still around, still alive… there was a huge possibility that Max would strangle her, kill that girl with her own hands. She may be furious, but the fury was only skin deep. Too shallow to even touched her cold core. She was frozen, layers of ice had bound her and she didn't even care what happened next.

People said that revenge was best served cold, but Max had no desire to do anything anymore. She didn't want to move. She didn't want to think. She didn't want to breathe.

She didn't even want to live.

::

Under the wavering shadows of trees, a black car blazed by, streaking across the deserted road, leaving a trail of dust and smoke in its wake. Two rabbits huddled close, startled to stillness at the foreign noise that pierced through the customary silence. Their eyes were large and unblinking when as quickly as the huge black snake-like thing slithered through, it disappeared. Their whiskers twitched once, sniffing the air, testing for their safety. A few seconds later, they hopped towards their burrow, satisfied that the danger was gone.

Up ahead, two men stared dead ahead, occasionally their eyes flicked to the side to reassure that they were on the right track. Their features were sharp, all planes and sharp angles and with identical clothing, they almost resembled each other, down to the blank expression.

However, as the driver tilted his head, a long jagged scar shone faintly as it ran from the corner of his eye to his jaw line. He narrowed his eyes and turned towards his partner. Without a word, the other Familiar nodded. They stopped the car and studied the trail silently.

'They're on a bike,' Long Scar spoke, his tone flat and almost bored. As if hunting down transgenics was as mundane as walking down the street. 'They're together. One of them must be wounded.'

The other nodded, squinting into the trees. 'We're close, let's go.'

Their car plowed over the bushes and the undergrowth, following the trail Max had left behind. The trail she was too preoccupied to hide. They stopped the car and started on foot when they deemed they were close enough, picking their way carefully across the bushes. Long Scar crouched and signaled to the other to be still as he studied the trampled bush, pushing it slowly aside. He turned to his partner and gestured with satisfaction at the shack.

Anyone with half a brain could track them, he sniffed disdainfully. It just proved that those transgenics, animals that they are, were inferior creatures. And like trapped animals, they were gonna die soon enough.

They both crouched, eyes trained on the target as they scrutinized the area for any type of activity. Their eyes skittered to each other when total silence hit like a bucket of ice. A sliver of something much like dread started chewing on the edge of their confidence.

There was no way they couldn't detect anything from the house. Even if they were real quiet, they'd still make some noise. Footsteps, voices, furniture moving, whispers… something. They turned to each other again. Something was not right.

But the motorbike was there, parked just beside the front door, not even hidden. How stupid was that? The insipid creatures must still be inside.

The Familiars crept forward slowly, eyes hard and muscles ready for battle. One of them put his hand on the door, nodded to his partner. He had detected some movement from the inside. Slight but there. And from the sound, they were just beyond the door.

Just a few miles down the road, a car stopped by the side of the street, the driver smiling at the disheveled young man. 'Do you need a lift?'

He nodded and slipped into the passenger's seat. _I'm coming Rachel, I'm coming._

One by one, they slipped their guns from the holster and after that, it was an explosion of sound and movement as they burst into the room, guns aimed directly at her back.

'Don't move! Don't even move a muscle!'

The figure under the blanket didn't budge. Long Scar stepped forward and without hesitation gave her a swift kick in the arm, just below her shoulder. She flipped to her back and the two guns automatically trained to her head, their trigger happy fingers twitching.

'Don't even _think_ of doing anything stupid or we'll blow a hole in your head,' he snarled, gun held steady. Then it happened. In his long illustrious history of being part of an elite breeding cult, he never experienced anything like that. Shock… surprise.

So much that it robbed him of speech and thought for a moment. Then again, he had never seen anything like that in his life. She was breathing because he could see small movement under the blanket, but her eyes were dead. They were open, but there was nothing in it.

He actually felt a sharp sliver of fear for a second. His breath rushed out uncertainly and he turned to his partner. His first time too for a spot of reassurance. It relieved him greatly to see that his partner was spooked as well, it was clear in his eyes.

'Move, you stupid bitch,' he lashed out, his boot connected with her ribs but she didn't react. He crouched before pulling her up, pushing her into the only chair around.

'Where is he?' he growled into her slumped form. 'Where is 494?'

Something flickered briefly in her eyes before it quivered and die. No, she can't think of him. It hurt too much. She pushed everything aside; she was too tired to do anything. She just wanted to close her eyes and never wake up. She didn't feel the sting of the slap on her face, she was in a place where she couldn't feel anything anymore.

'Where is he? Tell us where he is!'

In her mutilated mind, she huddled in a bleak corner. And when the dark approached, she embraced it.

 _Have you ever found the one_  
You've dreamed of all of your life  
You'd do just about anything to look into their eyes  
Have you finally found the one you've given your heart to  
Only to find that one won't give their heart to you  
Have you ever closed your eyes and  
Dreamed that they were there  
And all you can do is wait for the day when they will care

::

The clouds hung low in the sky, gray and moody. He stepped over a loose stone, trudging forward, focusing on putting one step in front of the other.

Rachel.

His closed his eyes in defeat. How could he let that happen to her? She was the sweetest little innocent he had ever met; always smiling, always happy. But he had robbed her of that smile, that happiness… he even stole her life. He knew he never deserved her, but to have something that pure, that sweet, that happy, even for a fraction of time was worth it.

The closer he got, the slower his steps became. He had been running before, driven by something distant, pushed by a half buried memory. But now that he was almost there, the steps were harder to take. He stopped in his tracks, frowning as he stared blindly ahead.

Max.

Where did that girl fit into the jagged pieces of his life? There was something about her… something that beckoned stealthily but when he drifted closer, it dissipated from his view. He had pushed it aside as something irrelevant in the past but he didn't know what to make of it now.

Who was she? Who was she to him? Someone he knew? A friend? But she was one of the 09ers, so that should be impossible. Maybe she was recaptured, and they got to know each other while in Manticore? Were they in a mission together? They were still a lot on unanswered questions, issues that she was to clarify but all inquiry went out the window after one whiff of her pheromones.

He was not… _happy_ with the way he had jumped her, how he had practically forced her at first, the way the animal streak in him took over. He was human dammit, and humans never tossed aside their intelligence and let instinct rule their every move. After the Heat, leaving her was hard, almost impossible. In a way it was like gnawing off a limb and leaving it behind to rot but it was something he had to do. Something he needed to do. But never in his wildest dreams would Manticore disappear, burnt to the ground so hell, nothing was impossible now. There was nothing he can't do now.

He pulled his coat closer, suddenly cold. Just beyond the trees, in that little clearing was his destination. He forced himself to walk towards the stone erected in her honour. Standing silently in front of her grave, his eyes read the inscription.

_Rachel_

_Beloved daughter_

_Jan 15 2002_

_Oct 21 2020_

His head hung low, and he mourned for his lost love.

::

They were both pacing, angry at the turn of events. They had thought they had the cat in the bag, so to speak, but it turned out that their cat had lost its tongue. Their eyes skittered to her sprawled figure, shadows of bruises started to appear, darkening her ashen form. The clothes hanged crazily from her small frame, ripped and dirty with splashes of blood giving it a spray of colour. Her head rolled to one side as it rested on the back of the chair, black eyes trained to a faraway place, blank and empty.

The Familiar with the scar grabbed her by the hair, forcing her head to tilt to him. 'Where the hell is he? Start talking before I kill you!' His fingers tightened on her scalp, but her expression never changed. Not even when a stream of blood trickled down her face when his nails had sliced open skin. He pushed her away in disgust and pulled out his cell phone.

He continued to pace as he waited for his call to go through. 'We got one of them, sir.'

' _One? What about the other?'_

'We're trying to get 494's location out of 452 but,' he swallowed hard, 'she's not cooperating.'

' _I'm disappointed in you, Stefan. I put you on this because you're the best, but it seems I misjudged you.'_

Stefan's scar seemed to have a life of its own as he gritted his teeth.

' _Bring her in. We'll make her talk.'_

'Yes sir. Fen'os tol.' He stared at his cell phone, breathing hard as he tried to collect himself. He turned to his partner and snapped, 'We go back to base. Prepare her.'

::

A small breeze danced over the ground, lifting dry leaves from where it had fallen, much like a curious child's fingers poking at the unknown. His hair wavered softly, a tentative quiver against his pale face as he took a step towards her tombstone. He dropped his head and stared at the lone wildflower he had picked, the one he wanted to put on her grave.

The fragile blue petals seemed to whisper its secret to the wind as the breeze caressed its soft fingers across the velvety petals. He let out a heavy sigh, eyes shadowed with pain and placed the flower on the stone. His fingers graced the cold surface and suddenly the glassy sheen in his eyes sharpened as he gasped in pain at the surge of memories bombarding his brain.

_'She's critical,' Carr answered bluntly, 'I don't think she will make it past 24 hours.' He closed his eyes as quick slashes of pain surged through him, tearing him apart. Hot and painful._

_'Max had been looking for the cure for almost a year,' she purposely left out Logan's name, 'what makes you think you're gonna find it in less than 24 hours. What exactly are you gonna do, Alec?' 'Anything, Cindy. Anything… and everything.'_

_'You should have a name too,' that stubborn female voice called out. 'I told you, my designation's 494,' he replied matter-of-factly. The fiery brunette shook her head slowly, 'Doesn't suit you. I'm gonna call you Alec.'_

_'What about half a million? Does the cure means that much to you?' asked Fowler, obviously trying to gauge just how far should he push Alec. 'Wait a second. No, that doesn't sound right. I think I'd prefer a round figure. One million dollars, that's my price and it's not negotiable. Take it or leave it.'_

The flower dropped on the top of the headstone, dropping from his numb fingers before landing on the ground. One of the petals came free from the impact and fluttered softly, riding the easy breeze. His blood raced eerily to his feet and he fell to his knees.

' _Oh god, Alec.' She started running her trembling hands over his body and her tears raced faster down her cheeks when her shaking fingers encountered the deep cuts and wounds. Her agitation and fear rose a couple of notches after she felt the long gash and broken bones. 'I'm fine, baby,' he managed to whisper even as another wave of pain crashed over him. 'It's just a scratch.'_

_This time Max did growl in frustration and her eyes were alive in anger. 'For the last time, Alec, I'm not saying this under any influence of drugs or something. YES, I have feelings for you. Is that blunt enough for you?' Alec gulped; his eyes were wide as he stared her way. Damn, she's serious._

' _I love you, Alec, I really do,' she replied in a small voice as her hand tightened protectively around him. Even though he was having some major difficulties in concentrating on what she was saying, Alec heard that last sentence and smiled. 'Those words are already deeply engraved on my heart, Maxie. I don't think forgetting them would even be possible.'_

' _You love me. T_ _hose words are already deeply engraved in your heart, forgetting them was not possible..._ _that's what you said to me. Don't you remember? You love me!' 'I love her._ _Rachel. I love her and she paid for it._ _'_

'Oh god.' The golden flecks swimming in his green eyes shined with pain. Agony at what he had inflicted on her. Unknowingly or not, he had hurt her, had made her cry. He had used her and tossed her aside. If he didn't have to find her and explain everything, he'd kill himself first. 'God, Maxie,' his head dropped to the cold stone. 'What have I done to you?

 


End file.
